Removable Flame Heat Transfer Regulating Apparatus Including an Inner Hollow Shell and Outer Wall Incorporated with a Burner Having Improved Burner Ports for a Gas Stove

ABSTRACT

A removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus having an inner hollow shell surrounded by an outer wall is incorporated with a burner having improved burner ports for a gas stove to increase the flame heating efficiency in cooking. The shell is an ascending wall including air passages of openings therethrough its upper and lower parts, wherein openings are densely distributed to the lower part. The outer wall has air passages of openings therethrough, and extensions spaced apart projecting upwardly including one serving as a heat shield to prevent heating of a utensil handle. The apparatus is positioned to surround an upper section of the burner, wherein each improved burner port of opening includes a smaller section having a smaller inlet connected to a larger expanding section having an ascending interior top surface and a larger outlet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/811,521 filed on Jun. 11, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to cooking appliances, andmore particularly to a removable apparatus in use of regulating heattransfer of the flame which is incorporated with a burner havingimproved burner ports to increase heating efficiency of the flame incooking.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In general gas stoves are well known including the associated structuralcomponents. The following 13 United States patents and published patentapplications are the closest prior art references which are related tothe present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,156,087 issued to Kupfer on Oct. 12, 1915 for “FlameShield For Gas Stove” discloses a cylindrical metal tube which is usedas a flame shield for a burner of the gas stove. The tube is comprisedof a circular wall having an upper end and a lower end, wherein aplurality of vertical slots, preferably three, are circumferentiallyspaced on the wall. The slots are extending upward from the lower end ofthe wall to an upper position of the wall, wherein one of them isarranged to fit over the gas pipe. The flame shield is positionedbetween the stove grids on the cooktop and a platform placed under thecooktop, wherein the upper end of the shield reaches into the plane ofthe undersurface of the grids, the lower end of the shield rests uponthe platform, and the body of the shield surrounds the burner.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,166,442 issued to Kahn on Jul. 18, 1939 for “CookingStove” discloses a mechanical structure which is connected to the top ofa gas burner having a plurality of gas ports and the cooktop of a stove,wherein an annular curved shield surrounds the burner adjacent the gasports and extends upwardly and outwardly to the inside edge of therecessed shoulder of the cooktop for directing the heat from the burnertoward the grate opening.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,742 issued to Power on Jun. 8, 1965 for “CombinationGas Burner Grid And Flame Shield” discloses an improved gas burner gridcomprising a substantially rigid and arcuate shield to eliminate anyundesirable overheating of a pan handle. The shield is placed to theradial innermost ends of the two adjacent ribs, which are among a totalof 8 ribs, wherein all the ribs are circumferentially spaced onto arigid, cast-iron ring of the circular grid. The grid is further adaptedto be seated removably in the upper open end of a stationary, generallycup shaped housing having a bottom through the center of which projectsa conventional gas stove burner.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,419 issued to Reiner on Feb. 8, 2005 for “PortableHiking Stove” discloses an improved portable hiking stove. The stove iscomprised of a base member having a plurality of air passagestherethrough with an opening dimensioned to receive a burner therein,three identical side members vertically dimensioned so as to beassembled together to support the horizontal base member therebetween,and a circularly cylindrical wall acted as a wind screen having a lowerbottom end from which is supported by three protrusions of therespective three side members. Each identical side member is furthercomprised of a plurality of air passages placed on its lower part,wherein the positions of the air passages therethrough each side memberare lower than the position where the base member is supportedtherebetween the side members. The wind screen is further placed,wherein its upper end is positioned to be higher than the upper ends ofthe side members, and its lower end is positioned to be higher that thehorizontal base member which is placed.

United States Patent Publication No.: 2005/0115556 issued to Carson etal. on Jun. 2, 2005 for “Turkey Fryer/Outdoor Cooker Wind and FireGuard” discloses a windscreen device for outdoor grill. The device canbe assembled from a horizontal bottom plate and a series of verticalside plates to be a cuboid enclosure or wind screen. The enclosure iscapable of hosting a variety of types and sizes of outdoor cookingunits. The windscreen device includes at least one pair of air ventopenings therethrough adjacent to a bottom edge of each side plate, andan additional opening in one of its side plates, which is designed toadmit a gas hose therethrough.

United States Patent Publication No.: 2004/0045542 issued to Zhou et al.on Mar. 11, 2004 is for an “Outdoor Cook Stove”. The Publicationdiscloses a portable outdoor stove including a burner and a wind guardhaving an opened bottom end of cylinder shape capable of tightly coupledwith a cooking vessel and possessing window opening of less than 180degree toward its top for exhaust outlet, wherein the burner is placedat the center of the opened bottom of the wind guard.

United States Patent Publication No.: 2005/0109330 issued to Pestrue etal. on May 26, 2005 for “Cooking Stove Including Invertible SupportRack. Support Rack With Dual Cooking Surfaces And Method Of Using Same”discloses a stove for outdoor use. The stove includes a hollow shell,supporting structure, and a burner assembly, operatively attached to theside of the shell, and a vessel support rack for placement on the shell.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,335 issued to Farnsworth et al. on Jul. 25, 1989 for“Vented Gas Range Top Burner” discloses a top burner for a gas cookingrange, which includes a burner vent having a radially upwardly slopingwall to surround the burner head. An annular ring projects upwardly froman inner radial extremity of the wall to direct combustion products fromthe burner head into immediate scrubbing contact with the bottom of acooking utensil. The wall terminates at an outer radial extremityadapted to be located in sufficiently close proximity with the bottom ofthe cooking utensil to restrict radially outward flow of combustionproducts. Capture ports adjacent the outer radial extremity of the walltransfer exhaust combustion products through a vent pipe to theatmosphere at a positive pressure.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,420 issued to Jennings (the Jennings patent) on Feb.8, 2005 for “Burner With Piloting Ports” discloses an improved burnerhaving ports that are aligned in a defined alignment with respect to anadjacent structure of the a burner body with a piloting zone so thatadjacent structure guides the formation of a flame kernel at an outletof the port. A structural portion of the burner body such as an extendedlip protruding beyond the burner port stabilizes the flame kernels atthe burner port outlet. Such structures provide a method for improvingthe turndown ratio of burners by preventing lifting or backlash of theflame kernels generated at the burner port outlets by aligning the portsin conjunction with an adjacent structure within a piloting zone.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,018 issued to Avshalumov on Jul. 25, 2000 for “GasBurner” discloses an improved gas burner. The burner comprises incombination means for controlled feeding and subsequent admixing of asecondary air directly to the base of flame in a form of a cap coaxiallysurrounding a burner head of the gas burner having lateral apertures forissuing combustible air-gas mixture to form a flame. During theoperation of the gas burner the exact measured amount of the secondaryair is admixed directly to the base of the flame, thereby highlyefficient and complete combustion process characterized by high-elevatedtemperature is achieved.

In addition, gas burners that incorporate two and three flame ringshaving the laterally oriented burner ports are known in the field of theart. Generally, a small flame ring that is located in the center of thegas burner is designated as a warming burner. The outer flame ring andmiddle flame ring, if any, are designated as the main burner. Regardinguse of a multi-ring gas burner, U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,205 issued toHarneit (the Harneit patent) on Oct. 17, 2000 for “Multi-Ring Sealed GasBurner” discloses a multi-ring burner assembly that utilizes at leasttwo flame rings to gently and evenly warm food and a third outer flamering in conjunction with the first two flame rings for cooking food.

The modern gas stoves for the household usage can be classified to asealed burner mounting and an opened burner mounting (see commercialstoves elsewhere), regarding the mechanical structure to affix gasburners onto the cooktops of the stoves. The former one is alsoillustrated from U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,759 issued to Hammel et al. on Jun.28, 1994 for “Sealed Burner Mounting Assembly” (the Hammel patent) andU.S. Pat. No. 6,505,621 issued to Gabelmann on Jan. 14, 2003 for “SealedGas Burner Assembly” (the Gabelmann patent) (see FIGS. 1 and 2, andillustration in the section of Description of this application).

From the above illustration of the existing technologies on structuralcomponents of the cooking stoves, it has been discovered that there isabsence of an apparatus in use of regulating the flame heat transferfrom a burner of the gas stove to a utensil in cooking. The apparatus isremovably placed onto the stove cooktop to surround an upper section ofthe gas burner and support the utensil. Therefore, heat radiation andconvection generated by flame of the gas burner can be well regulated,which are maximally directed to efficiently heat the utensil in cooking.For this purpose, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/811,521 (the '521application) has disclosed an invented removable flame heat transferregulating apparatus, which is used to surround the upper section of aburner and support a utensil. The '521 application furtherexperimentally demonstrates that with the aid of the invented apparatus,it can significantly increase the flame heating efficiency in cooking,when the apparatus is incorporated with an existing stove burner havingthe laterally oriented conventional burner ports.

However, it would be appreciated that, application of the inventedapparatus is only a passive solution in terms of achieving object toincrease the heating efficiency. This means, what the invented apparatuscan contribute is only to regulate the heat transfer from the flame thatis already controlled by structures of the existing burners having thelaterally orientated conventional burner ports.

Referring to the Jennings and Harneit patents, the existing gas burnersin the western market provide the laterally oriented burner ports thatare generally in a shape of the circular opening (see FIG. 1 of theHarneit patent) or rectangular aperture (see FIGS. 2 and 2a of theJennings patent). The orientations of the respective conventional burnerports are radially arranged in the respective transverse directionsrelative to the longitudinal orientation of the circular burner that ispositioned. This results in a phenomenon that a mixture of the primaryair and combustible gases under the supplied pressure is rushed to flowtransversely out of the burner ports. In this situation, the flamekernels generated at the burner port outlets also burn in the respectivetransverse directions. Obviously, this phenomenon is most apparent in asituation when the mixed air-combustible gases at the maximum flow rate(or the maximum pressure) are provided to the burner ports, which iscontrolled by a user of the stove.

Referring further to FIGS. 2 and 2a of the Jennings patent, there isillustrated that the top flame burns in an ascending direction, whereinthe top flame is in distance to the outlet of a burner port. In thissituation, the transverse flow of the mixture of the air and combustiblegases is sharply weakened due to a quick dissipation of its suppliedpressure when the combustible mixture is out of the outlet of the burnerport.

As compared with the naturally upward pattern when a flame burns, theflame pattern governed by the conventional burner ports is altered ifthere is an utensil positioned above the flame, which has been discussedin the '521 application. In that situation, the flame elongates in therespective transverse directions under the utensil bottom side. This isbecause the bottom side of the utensil blocks the upward pathway of thetop flame, which forces the flame positioned under the utensil totransversely extend more before it ends.

In the situation when the maximum flow rate (or pressure) of thecombustible mixture is supplied, such flame transverse elongation thatalso reaches the maximum extend will bring two major disadvantages evenafter applying the apparatus, which negatively affect the heatingefficiency in cooking with the most popularly and probably usableutensils which have sizes ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm in diameters.

First, a part of the heat of the top flame, which is represented by theradiated heat and convected heat, will be escaped through the gapbetween the bottom of the utensil and top of the apparatus before theheat could reach the utensil. This results in losing the thermal energy.Such energy loss is absolutely happened since the apparatus having fixeddiametrical sizes practically cannot accommodate every specificsituations in cooking, including the maximum flow rate of thecombustible mixture. In fact, the sizes of the apparatus including thediameter of the top circumference of an inner hollow shell are designedfrom considering overall effect in application of the apparatus, whichincludes convenience of usage, ability to fit the respective mostpopularly and probably usable utensils, and saving energies.

Second, majority of the top flame is moved outwardly to come intocontact with areas of the bottom side of the utensil, wherein thecontacted areas are more towards the outer circumference of the utensilbottom side. This causes a large area of a “cold spot” on the utensilbottom side. In addition, the flame elongation will further enhance achilling effect of the flame, if the bottom side of the utensil ispositioned higher than a position that the top flame can reach. Thechilling effect is also negative to the object of achieving a highheating efficiency in cooking since the top flame that has the highesttemperature cannot be directly in contact with the utensil bottom side.

Following the above disclosed first reason of losing the thermalenergies, it would be appreciated that besides the factor of the burnerports aligning with the respective transverse orientations, anadditional factor of extra large sizes of the (outer) flame rings canalso cause loss of the thermal energies in cooking even the burner portsof the respective extra large flame rings are arranged in the upwardorientation. In the above conclusion, the extra large sizes of the flamerings are identified as they are not proportional to the diametricalsizes of the respective heat transfer regulating apparatus and the mostpopularly and probably usable utensils. For example, most burners of thegas stoves in the Asian market including the Chinese market have a dualflame-ring configuration including a smaller central flame ring and alarger outer flame ring, wherein the outer flame rings include thelaterally oriented burner ports in the round and rectangular shapes orupward burner ports of linear slots. However, the outer flame rings areusually very large, which the maximum diameters could be 12.5 cm. Inthat situation, losing the thermal energies absolutely happens incooking.

Therefore, for further improving the heating efficiency in cooking, thepresent invention must address burner flame (outer) rings havingimproved burner ports and optimum diametrical sizes, which areincorporated with the heat transfer regulating apparatus to best fitsizes of the most popularly and probably usable utensils. The improvedburner ports have structure for angularly directing the combustible gasflow and securing good stabilities of the flame kernels generated atoutlets of the improved burner ports for prevent lifting or backlash ofthe kernels.

Obviously changing structure of the burner ports including theirorientations and defining the optimum diametrical sizes of the flamerings are active solutions in terms of increasing the heating efficiencyas compared with the passive solution from applying the heat transferregulating apparatus, which the '521 application has already disclosed.Therefore, the present invention will bring a total solution forincreasing the heating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

Further, the present invention will additionally address alternativematerials having the respective large heat capacities, which can be usedto manufacture the apparatus for bringing an additional positive factorto increase the heating efficiency in cooking.

Gas stoves are popularly used in human society. Usage of the gas stovesconsumes tremendous amount of the combustible gases, and also generatessignificant amount of carbon dioxide gases which are of total greenhousegases generated by the human society. Therefore, there is a significantneed of the present invention, which can provide a removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner of a gas stovehaving improved burner ports and an (outer) flame ring with anappropriate diameter to significantly increase the heating efficiencyaccording to various used gas flow rates in cooking, wherein theinvention results in reduction of the combustible gas consumption forthe cost reduction and reduction of the greenhouse gas production forthe environmental protection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a removable flame heat transfer regulatingapparatus including an inner hollow shell and outer wall incorporatedwith a burner having a plurality of improved burner ports for a gasstove to increase heating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

The inner hollow shell is an ascending wall having a larger top openingwith a larger top circumference or edge and a smaller bottom openingwith a smaller circumference or edge. A plurality of air passages ofopenings are therethrough lower and upper parts of the shell, whereinthe air passages are more densely distributed to the lower part of theshell, as compared with the air passages which are less denselydistributed to the upper part of the shell. In a preferred embodiment,the shell is in the concave including parabolic shape.

The outer wall has multiple extensions projecting upwardly that arespaced apart onto a top edge of the wall. A plurality of air passages ofopenings are evenly distributed therethrough the outer wall. Inaddition, a plurality of attachment means are placed on the outer wall,which are served to position the removable optional utensil supports forsupporting small utensils in cooking.

The inner hollow shell and outer wall, which are in the round orsymmetrical shape, can be made of durable metals or metal alloys. Theycan also be made of ceramics specifically for its high heat capacity andlow thermal conductivity.

Both the inner hollow shell and outer wall are positioned onto thecooktop of a gas stove, wherein the inner hollow shell is furtherpositioned to surround an upper section of a gas burner. The outer wallis positioned to surround the inner hollow shell and additionallysupport a kitchen utensil that is positioned on the upward extensions.In this configuration, one of the extensions of the outer wall isfurther served as a flame heat shield to prevent undesirable heating ofa handle of the utensil in cooking.

Application of the flame heat regulating apparatus enables flame toincrease the heating efficiency in cooking. The inner circularly arcuatehollow shell contributes to the increased heating efficiency throughregulating the heat radiation and heat convection of the flame.

In regulating the flame heat radiation, the inner hollow shell reflectsthe radiated heat of the flame which is initially radiated outwardly anddownwardly away from the flame thus the utensil back to heat the utensilbottom side. In regulating the flame heat convection including airconvection, the inner hollow shell directs a secondary air having alower temperature from surrounding areas of the flame to flow to theflame for involving in the flame combustion, wherein the secondary airmainly flows through the air passages more densely distributed tothrough the lower part of the inner hollow shell. The inner hollow shelladditionally directs the air and exhaust gases in combustion having ahigher temperature to flow upwardly to heat the utensil bottom side,wherein the air and exhaust gases that are both surrounded by the innerhollow shell are forced to flow upwardly.

The outer wall that contributes to the increased heating efficiency isserved as a thermal wall to block the radiated heat that is radiatedoutwardly from the inner hollow shell. The outer wall further provides agap which is determined by the extensions for the flame exhaust gasesand air having the higher temperature to flow outwardly and upwardly toheat the utensil outer side.

The upper section of the gas burner is comprised of a removable topround cap from the present invention and an upward hollow neck that isaffixed to the cooktop. The hollow neck is comprised of a circularupward wall having a top ring and a central upward opening for passing amixture of the combustible gases and primary air. The cap is comprisedof a transverse top, which is connected to a downward circular wall tothereby form an inner recess. The circular wall has an outer circularside, an inner circular side and a bottom transverse ring, wherein thebottom ring of the cap matches the top ring of the upward neck.

A plurality of identical downward slots from the present invention arecircumferentially and radially spaced apart to cut a part of thecircular wall including the bottom ring. Each identical slot iscomprised of a larger expanding section having an interior ascending topsurface and a larger outward opening, which is connected to a smallersection having a smaller inward opening. The larger outward opening ispositioned on the outer circular side of the cap circular wall. Thesmaller inward opening is positioned on the inner circular side of thecap circular wall for connecting to the inner recess.

When the top cap is positioned to mate with the burner neck, it turnsthe multiple identical downward slots on the cap to the respectiveimproved burner ports of the burner from the present invention, whereinthe larger outward openings of the respective slots are outlets of therespective burner ports, and the smaller inward openings are therespective burner port inlets. Each improved burner port of the openingis comprised of a larger expanding section connected to a smallersection. The smaller section of the opening is served as a nozzleoriented in a transverse direction for passing the combustible mixtureat a higher speed. The larger expanding section of the opening directsthe mixture to flow at a lower speed along the ascending orientation ofthe top surface to thereby form a stable flame kernel, when the mixturehaving the lower speed is ignited at the outlet of the burner port.

The stable flame kernel burns aligning with an angle of the ascendingtop surface of the expanding section to thereby form a flame aligningwith the same ascending angle. The flame burning is further supported bythe secondary air flowing from the surrounding areas of the flame afterits passing through the air passages of the apparatus. Therefore, a topof the flame, which has the highest temperature, directly comes intocontact with a bottom side of the utensil to significantly increaseheating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

The top cap from the present invention is further comprised of asideward circumferential protrusion having an ascending circular bottomside or a bottom ring, which is positioned onto the cap outer side toalign with the top of the cap, wherein the bottom ring of the protrusionis aligned with the ascending top surfaces of the respective burnerports. In addition, a downward circular slot is positioned at a jointwhere the protrusion is connected to the circular wall of the cap. Theprotrusion is designed to prevent distinction of the flame when there isliquid dropping in cooking. The circular slot is served to stabilizeflame kernels, which are ignited in the presence of the combustiblemixture at the minimally supplied flow rate that is selected by a userof the stove.

In another embodiment, the nozzles of the respective improved burnerports from the present invention are positioned to have an angle rangingfrom a zero-degree to a 90-degree relative to the respective transversedirections.

The present invention also practically defines optimum 19 cm diameter ofthe top edge of the inner hollow shell and maximum 8 cm diameter of acircle that is aligned with outlets of the respective burner ports of an(outer) flame ring, wherein the optimum and maximum diameters arecorrelated to an optimum distance ranging from 2.5 cm to 3 cm between atop position of the outlet and the bottom side of a utensil having anoptimum diametrical size ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a totalsolution for a gas stove to increase heating efficiency of the flame incooking, wherein the solution is application of a removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus including an inner hollow shell and outerwall that is incorporated with a burner having a plurality of improvedburner ports.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide the innerhollow shell that is a circularly ascending wall, which extends upwardlyand outwardly from a bottom circumference of opening having a smallersize to a top circumference of opening having a larger size, wherein aplurality of air passages of openings are therethrough lower and upperparts of the shell. The air passages are more densely distributed to thelower part of the inner hollow shell, as compared with the air passageswhich are less densely distributed to the upper part of the inner hollowshell. In a preferred embodiment, the inner hollow shell is in theconcave including parabolic shape. The inner hollow shell is positionedonto the cooktop of a stove to surround an upper section of a burner.Therefore, the inner hollow shell contributes to the increased heatingefficiency through regulating the flame heat radiation and convection.

It is an another object of the present invention to provide an outerwall having multiple extensions projecting upwardly that are spacedapart on a top of the wall, a plurality of air passages of openings thatare evenly distributed therethrough the wall and a plurality ofattachment means that are positioned on the outer wall to affix optionalutensil supports for supporting small utensils in cooking. The outerwall contributes to the increased heating efficiency from being athermal wall to block the radiated heat that is radiated outwardly fromthe inner hollow shell. The outer wall further provides a gap for theflame exhaust gases and air having a higher temperature to flowoutwardly and upwardly to thereby heat outer sides of the utensils.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the apparatusincluding the inner hollow shell and outer wall having a round orsymmetrical shape, wherein the apparatus can be made of durable metalsand metal alloys in addition to ceramics specifically for its high heatcapacity and low thermal conductivity.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a burnerhaving multiple improved burner ports of openings that arecircumferentially spaced apart on an upper section of the burner. Eachof the identical burner ports is comprised of a larger expanding sectionof the opening having a larger outlet and an interior ascending topsurface, which is connected to a smaller section of the opening having asmaller inlet. The smaller section is served as a nozzle oriented in atransverse direction for passing a combustible gaseous mixture at ahigher speed. The larger expanding section directs the mixture flowingat a lower speed along the ascending orientation of the top surface tothereby form a stable flame kernel, when the mixture having the lowerspeed is ignited at the outlet of the larger expanding section of theimproved burner port of the present invention.

It is a further additional object of the present invention to provide aburner having multiple identical improved burner ports of openings,wherein each of the identical improved burner ports is comprised of alarger expanding section of the opening having an interior ascending topsurface, which is connected to a smaller constant section of the openingthat is served as a nozzle for passing the combustible mixture at ahigher speed. The nozzle is oriented to align with an angle ranging froma zero-degree to a 90-degree relative to a transverse direction, whichcorrelates to change of the burner port locations from the circular wallto the top of the upper section of the burner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sidewardcircumferential protrusion having an ascending circular bottom side (orbottom ring), which is positioned onto the outer side of the uppersection of the burner to align with the top end of the upper section,wherein the protrusion bottom ring is aligned with the ascending topsurfaces of the respective burner ports. In addition, a downwardcircular slot is positioned at a joint where the protrusion is connectedto the upper section of the burner. The protrusion is designed toprevent distinction of the flame when there is liquid dropping incooking. The circular slot is served to stabilize flame kernels, whichare ignited in the presence of the combustible gaseous mixture at aminimum flow rate.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide optimum 19 cmdiameter of the top edge of the inner hollow shell and maximum 8 cmdiameter of a circle that is aligned with outlets of the respectiveburner ports of an (outer) flame ring, wherein the optimum and maximumdiameters are correlated to an optimum distance ranging from 2.5 cm to 3cm between a top position of the outlet and the bottom side of anutensil having an optimum diametrical size ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.

Further novel features and other objects of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description, discussion andthe appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustrationonly and not limitation, there is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art cooktop includingindividual grates from a gas stove having a sealed burner mountingassembly, where the figure illustrates absence of a flame heat transferregulating apparatus that could be placed on the cooktop to surround theupper section of a burner and support an utensil;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of another prior art cooktop including anextended grate from a gas stove having a sealed gas burner assembly,where the figure illustrates absence of a flame heat transfer regulatingapparatus that could be placed on the cooktop to surround the uppersection of a burner and support an utensil;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a removable flame heat transferregulating apparatus having an inner circularly arcuate hollow shell, anouter square wall and optional utensil supports according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view to illustrate the inner hollowshell, outer square wall and optional cookware supports according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention removable flame heat transferregulating apparatus;

FIG. 4A is a top plan view of another preferred optional utensilsupports of the outer square wall for the first embodiment of thepresent invention removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus;

FIG. 4B is a top plan view of additional preferred optional utensilsupports of the outer square wall for the first embodiment of thepresent invention removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a burner region of a stove cooktopincluding a cross-section view of the right half of the first embodimentof the apparatus to illustrate application of the apparatus, whichsurrounds an upper section of the burner. For a better presentation,FIG. 5 only shows a right side of the flame, the air flow and exhaustgas flow, which are represented by evenly spaced dotted lines. Inaddition. FIG. 5 does not show the whole structure of the burner toincluding a part of the structure that is served to mix the primary airand supplied combustible gases;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a removable flame heat transferregulating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view to illustrate a structural variationof an upward plate of the outer square wall, wherein at least one postprojecting downwardly is positioned on the bottom edge of the upwardplate;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a gas burner havingimproved burner ports from the present invention. For simplification,the figure only illustrates an upper section of the burner, which ispositioned on the cooktop of a gas stove;

FIG. 8A is an enlarged partial sectional view according to FIG. 8 forillustrating the identical improved burner ports of the presentinvention, which are circumferentially and radially spaced apart to cuta bottom ring of a top cap that is a part of the burner upper section;

FIG. 8B is an enlarged partial sectional view of the top cap forillustrating the structural variation of the identical improved burnerports from the present invention;

FIG. 8C is an enlarged partial sectional view of the top cap forillustrating another structural variation of the identical improvedburner ports of the present invention, wherein the upward ports arecircumferentially and radially spaced apart through a top of the cap;and

FIG. 8D is an enlarged partial sectional view to illustrate thestructural variation of the cap, wherein a circular sideward protrusionis circumferentially positioned on the cap circular wall from thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although specific embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed with reference to the drawings, it should be understood thatsuch embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative ofbut a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which canrepresent applications of the principles of the present invention.Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art towhich the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit,scope and contemplation of the present invention as further defined inthe appended claims.

Disclosure of the present invention includes two sections. The firstsection is related to an invented apparatus for regulating the heattransfer of the flame generated by a gas burner having the laterallyoriented conventional burner ports. The first section is consistent withthe disclosure of the '521 application. The second section is related toa burner having improved burner ports and an (outer) flame ring with anappropriate diametrical size, which is incorporated with the apparatus.Therefore, the present invention provides a total solution for a gasstove to increase heating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

(I) The Removable Flame Heat Transfer Regulating Apparatus

Reference to the present FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrates well known cooktopsof the modern gas stoves as the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, there isillustrated main cooktop 14 of a gas stove having a sealed burnermounting assembly and two individual grates 44 which are positioned tocover the respective two of four burners 38 on the cooktop 14. Thepresent FIG. 1 is a copy of FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,759 to Hammelet al. for “Sealed Burner Mounting Assembly”, from which all of thereference numbers are copied.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a top plan view of a cooktophaving an extended grate. The present FIG. 2 is a copy of FIG. 2 of U.S.Pat. No. 6,505,621 to Gabelmann for “Sealed Gas Burner Assembly”including all the copied reference numbers in FIG. 2 of the Gabelmannpatent. Reference to FIG. 2 illustrates that an extended removable grate40 is provided on the cooktop 32 to extend from the front to the backwith a plurality of fingers 42 for supporting cook pans or the likeutensils above a front gas burner 36 and a back gas burner 36.

From illustration in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the prior art cooktops of the gasstoves, it has been discovered that there is absence of a removableflame heat transfer regulating apparatus. The apparatus can be removablypositioned onto the stove cooktop to surround an upper section of a gasburner for increasing the heating efficiency of the flame of a gasburner, supporting a kitchen utensil, and preventing undesirable heatingof a handle of the utensil in cooking. It would be appreciated that heattransfer from the flame of the burner to the utensil relies on the flameheat radiation and heat convection of the flame. Therefore with the aidof the removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus of the presentinvention, the heat radiation and convection of the flame can be wellregulated so that the utensil can be efficiently heated. Therefore thepresent invention can reach the object to significantly increase theheating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, there is illustrated removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus from a first preferred embodiment 100 ofthe present invention. The apparatus 100 is comprised of an innercircularly arcuate hollow shell 102 and an outer square wall 130, whichare both placed onto a stove cooktop 166. The inner hollow shell 102 ispositioned to surround an upper section 178 of a gas burner. The outersquare wall 130 is positioned to surround the inner hollow shell 102 andsupport a utensil 168 having a bottom side 174, wherein the utensil 168is placed above the burner.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the inner hollow shell 102 is a circularlyascending arcuate wall comprising an outer surface 106, an inner surface108, a top opening with the top circumference or edge 110 and a bottomopening with the bottom circumference or edge 112. The inner hollowshell 102 from its bottom circumference 112 extends upwardly andoutwardly to end the top circumference 110. Therefore, the topcircumference 110 is larger than the bottom circumference 112, whereinboth circumferences are relative to a rotational axis 114 of the innerhollow shell 102. As additionally illustrated, the inner circularlyarcuate hollow shell 102 is configured to be concave when viewed italong a direction from the rotational axis 114 to the inner surface 108.In a preferred embodiment the inner hollow shell 102 is parabolic inshape.

It would be appreciated that, the concave including the parabolic shapeof the inner hollow shell 102 is designed from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention for regulating the flame heat radiation, and theflame heat convection including the air convection.

The concave including the parabolic shaped inner hollow shell 102 canreflect the outwardly and downwardly radiated heat, which is initiallyradiated by the flame away from the flame thus the utensil, back to heatthe utensil bottom side 174. In above illustration, the outward anddownward directions of the radiated heat from the flame are definedrelative to the horizontal orientation of the bottom side 174 of theutensil 168 which is positioned above the burner.

It would be appreciated that the heat radiation from the flame istowards every angular directions in the three-dimensional space.Therefore, the flame which is positioned under the bottom of the utensilhas a part of the radiated heat, which is outward and downward away fromthe flame thus the utensil. This means that the part of the radiatedheat is not used to heat the utensil. In the presence of the presentinvention inner hollow shell 102, the heat radiated outwardly anddownwardly from the flame can be regulated to be reflected back forheating the utensil 168. This is one of reasons to achieve a higherheating efficiency in cooking from the present invention, as comparedwith a lower heating efficiency of the prior art cooktops of the gasstoves without having the inner hollow shells.

The inner hollow shell 102 is further illustrated in FIG. 4 to comprisea plurality of air passages 116 of openings therethrough, wherein theair passages 116 are divided into first and second groups. The airpassages 116 in the first group are circumferentially spaced apart toalign with an upper circumference 118 of the shell 102 which is adjacentthe top circumference 110. The air passages 116 in the second group arealso circumferentially spaced apart to align with a lower circumference120 of the shell 102 adjacent the bottom circumference 112. However, theair passages 116 are not evenly distributed in the two groups.

Such uneven distribution of the air passages is illustrated in FIG. 4from a distance “A” between two adjacent air passages 116 aligning withthe lower circumference 120 and a distance “B” between two adjacent airpassages 116 aligning with the upper circumference 118, wherein thedistance “A” is shorter than the distance “B”. Therefore, the airpassages 116 are greater in quantity and are more densely distributed toa lower part of the inner hollow shell 102 having the bottomcircumference 112, as compared with the air passages 116 which are fewerin quantity and are less densely distributed to an upper part of theinner hollow shell 102 having the top circumference 108.

It would be appreciated that from the above illustrated preferredembodiment that serves as an example, the present invention discloses ageneral structural characteristics of the uneven air passagedistribution of the inner hollow shell 102. Such characteristics isparticularly designed to regulate the heat convection of the flame incooking, wherein the heat convection is based on the air convectionwhich is taken place in space including surrounding areas of the flameand the areas occupied by the flame.

The air with a lower temperature has a heavier density, which occupies alower part of the space adjacent the flame. In contrast, the air with ahigher temperature has a lighter density, which occupies an upper partof the space including the areas where the flame is located. Suchdensity difference causes a natural air convection pattern of the flame.A colder air having the lower temperature, which is positioned in thesurrounding areas of the flame, flows to the flame for involving in theflame combustion through a path which occupies a lower part of thespace. A hotter air having the higher temperature which is positioned inthe upper part of the space flows upwardly away from the flame.Therefore, the densely distributed air passages 116 on the lower part ofthe inner hollow shell 102 will provide a less flow resistance for theair with the lower temperature to flow towards the upper section 178 ofthe burner, wherein the air having oxygen served as a secondary air isnecessary for combustion of the mixture of the combustible gases andprimary air to form the flame.

Referring again to FIG. 4, there is illustrated outer square wall 130comprising four identical upward plates 132. Each plate has a height“H2” of a top edge 138, an exterior side 134 and an interior side 136.The upward plates 132 are connected to one another to form the outersquare wall 130 having a top square transverse edge 138, a bottom squaretransverse edge 140, and a central symmetric axis 142. As furtherillustrated, a plurality of air passages 144 of openings are evenlydistributed through each plate 132 of the outer square wall 130. Itwould be appreciated that from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention that include to regulate the air convection, a number of theair passages 144 therethrough the outer square wall 130 are more than anumber of the air passages 116 of the inner hollow shell 102. Thisresults in a combined area of the openings on the outer square wall,which is larger than a combined area of the openings on the inner hollowshell.

Referring additionally to FIG. 4, each upward plate 132 at the middleposition of the top transverse edge 138 is comprised of an extension 146projecting upwardly. The upward extension 146 is comprised of atransverse top end 152, and first and second upward sides 148 and 150having the identical heights “H3”. As illustrated, the height “H3” ofeach of the upward sides 148 and 150 is shorter than the height “H2” ofeach of the upward plates 132. In addition, the length of the top end152 is generally longer than the length of the upward side 148 or 150,so that the extension 146 can be served as a heat shield. In anotherembodiment, instead of all the upward extensions having the long topends, only one extension 146 has the long top end 152, which is servedas the heat shield.

It would be appreciated that the upward extension 146 served as the heatshield can block an outward heat flow from a flame which is towards theextension 146. The outward heat flow could turn to an upward heat flowif there is absence of the extension 146, so that the upward heat flowcan heat an object, which is positioned above the flame and furthervertically aligned with the upward heat flow. Therefore, as illustratedin FIGS. 4A and 5, the upward extension 146 can prevent undesirableheating of a handle 170 of the utensil 168 in cooking, where the utensilis positioned on the top ends 152 of the extensions 146 of the outersquare wall 130, and the handle 170 is positioned to vertically alignwith the center of the extension top end 152. In addition, asillustrated in FIG. 5, the extensions 146 from the present invention isdesigned to further support the utensil 168 having the flat bottom side174 such as a pan, or having a convex shaped bottom side such as a wok.

Referring further to FIG. 4, there is illustration that a first group ofan upper hook 162 and a lower hook 164 or attachment means arepositioned on the interior side 136 of each identical plate 132 of theouter square wall 130, wherein two hooks 162 and 164 are aligned withthe first upward edge 148 of the identical extension 146. In addition,the upper hook 162 is positioned adjacent the top transverse edge 138and the lower hook 164 is positioned adjacent the bottom transverse edge140 of the outer square wall 130. Similarly, a second group of an upperhook 163 and a lower hook 165 or attachment means are positioned on theinterior side 136 of each identical plate 132, which are aligned withthe second upward side 150 of the extension 146. Further, the upper hook163 is positioned adjacent the top edge 138 and the lower hook 16 ispositioned adjacent the bottom edge 140 of the outer square wall 130.

It would be appreciated that the hooks are designed to affix first andsecond identical optional utensil supports 154 and 156 onto the outersquare wall 130, so that a small utensil can be placed on the optionalsupports 154 and 156. The first optional utensil support 154 isillustrated in FIG. 4 to be in a generally inverted “U” shape,comprising a top transverse section 154 a, and identical first andsecond downward sections 154 b and 154 c. The optional utensil supportscan be made with flat metal strips or round metal rods.

When in use of the support 154, the first downward section 154 b isinserted into the first group of the upper and lower hooks 162 and 164of the first identical plate 132, and the second downward section 154 cis inserted into the second group of the upper and lower hooks 163 and165 of the second identical plate 132. As illustrated, the secondidentical plate 132 is adjacent the first identical plate 132 in theclockwise direction relative to the symmetric axis 142, and the firstand second identical plates 132 are connected at a 90-degree angle. Inthis setting, the top transverse section 154 a of the first optionalutensil support 154 and projections of the respective top edges 138 ofthe first and second identical plates 132 adjacent each other form anisosceles right angled triangle, wherein the top transverse section 154a is the hypotenuse side.

Similarly, the second optional utensil support 156 can be affixed. Thisresults in that the top transverse section 154 a of the first optionalsupport 154 and the top transverse section 156 a of the second optionalutensil support 156 are in parallel and have a short distance inbetween. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the distance is shorter, as comparedwith a longer distance between two oppositely positioned upward plates132 of the outer square wall 130. Therefore, a small pan can beconveniently placed onto the two transverse top sections 154 a and 156 aof the respective first and second optional utensil supports 154 and156.

It would be appreciated that with the presence of the first group of theupper and lower hooks 162 and 164 or attachment means, and second groupof the upper and lower hooks 163 and 165 or attachment means on eachupward plate 132, various variations of the optional supports can beformed, which are illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Referring to FIG. 4A, there is illustrated another preferredconfiguration of the optional utensil supports of the outer square wall130, comprising four identical, generally inverted “U” shaped optionalsupports 157, 158, 159 and 160. Each identical optional support 157 iscomprised of a top transverse section 157 a, and the identical first andsecond downward sections (both not shown). When in use of the firstoptional support 157, the first downward section is inserted into thesecond group of the upper hook 163 and lower hook (not shown) of thefirst identical plate 132, and the second downward section is insertedinto the first group of the upper hook 162 and lower hook (not shown) ofthe second identical plate 132. In this setting, the top transversesection 157 a of the first optional support 157 and the top edges 138 ofthe respective first and second identical plates 132 adjacent each otherfoitn an isosceles right angled triangle at the north-west corner of theouter square wall 130, wherein the top section 157 a is the hypotenuseside of the isosceles right angled triangle.

Following the similar procedure, the top transverse section 158 a of thesecond optional support 158 is the hypotenuse side of the isoscelesright angled triangle at the north-east corner of the outer square wall130. Similarly, the top transverse section 159 a of the third optionalsupport 159 is at the south-east corner, and the top transverse section160 a of the fourth optional support 160 is at the south-west corner.Therefore the top sections 157 a, 158 a, 159 a and 160 a form a squarestructure to support the small utensils.

Referring to FIG. 4B, there is illustrated additional preferredconfiguration of the optional utensil supports of the outer square wall130, comprising four identical, generally inverted “U” shaped optionalsupports 157′, 158′, 159′ and 160′. The configuration of the optionalutensil supports illustrated in FIG. 4B is identical to theconfiguration in FIG. 4A, except for the top transverse section 157′a ofthe identical optional support 157′ that is a 90-degree bent structure,as compared with a straight transverse section 157 a of the identicaloptional support 157. Therefore, the top sections 157′a, 158′a, 159′aand 160′a form a generally hollow cross shaped structure to support thesmall utensils.

It would be appreciated that, although the above illustration includingFIGS. 4, 4A and 4B discloses various variations of the optional utensilsupports including the attachment means on each upward plate 132, theoptional utensil supports including the attachment means are not limitedin accordance with the spirit and scope of the present invention. Infact, any types of the optional utensil supports are appropriate if theyare detachable, and are able to be affixed onto the outer square wall130 by the attachment means for supporting utensils. In addition, theattachment means are able to be placed on both the interior and exteriorsides of the outer square wall. Furthermore, at least one attachmentmeans is appropriate for each identical upward plate 132 according tothe spirit and scope of the present invention.

Reference to FIG. 5 illustrates application of the first preferredembodiment 100 of the present invention removable flame heat transferregulating apparatus. The inner circularly arcuate hollow shell 102 isfirst positioned onto the cooktop 166 of the stove to surround the uppersection 178 of the gas burner. The outer square wall 130 is secondpositioned onto the cooktop 166 to surround the inner hollow shell 102,wherein the rotational axis 114 of the inner shell 102 is aligned withthe symmetric axis 142 of the outer square wall 130. They are furtheraligned with a center of a top cap 180 of the burner upper section 178,wherein a plurality of the laterally oriented burner ports 182 arecircumferentially spaced apart on a side wall of the cap 180. The bottomside 174 of the utensil 168, which has a cylindrical outer side 176, ispositioned onto the top end 152 of each extension 146 of the outersquare wall 130. In this setting, the top circumference 110 of the innerhollow shell 102 is positioned higher than the cap 180 of the burnerupper section 178. The top square edge 138 of the outer square wall 130is positioned at least with the same height as the top circumference 110of the inner hollow shell 102.

In addition, a gap 172 is sufficiently wide between the top square edge138 of the outer square wall 130 and the bottom side 174 of the utensil168, which is provided by the extensions 146. The gap 172 permits thatthe hot exhaust gases from the flame and hot air flow freely, outwardlyand upwardly along the utensil cylindrical outer side 176, which resultsin further heating the utensil. It would be appreciated that in thepresence of the wide gap 172 it will not generate a back pressure forthe hot gases. The back pressure could force the flame to burn out ofthe gap 172, so that the flame positioned outside of the outer squarewall 130 cannot effectively heat the utensil 168. Therefore, the outersquare wall 130 having sufficient heights of the upward extensions 146is significant for increase of the heating efficiency in cooking.

It would be appreciated that from a theory of the flame, the top part ofa flame has the highest temperature. The bottom part of the flame hasthe lowest temperature, where a kernel of the flame is positioned.Within the kernel of the flame, the combustion of the combustiblemixture starts to take place in the presence of oxygen from the air. Itwould be further appreciated that according to the mechanical structureof the burner which is illustrated elsewhere, the flame kernel isconnected to the outlet of a burner port of the burner, where thepressured combustible mixture flows out. It would be additionallyappreciated that from the air convection theory which is illustratedpreviously, the surrounding air having the lower temperature with theheavier density, which serves as the secondary air, flows through thepath which occupies the lower part of the space to the bottom of theflame for involving in the combustion.

The first embodiment 100 of the present invention removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus is designed to exactly follow such wellknown flame theory to achieve a high heating efficiency in cookingthrough regulating the flame heat convection, in addition to regulatethe heat radiation.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated air convection pattern whichis regulated by the inner hollow shell 102. The air 190 having thelowest temperature as the secondary air flows from the surrounding areas198 of the gas burner to a bottom part 188 of the flame 184 forinvolving in the gas combustion. The air 190 first passes through theair passages 144 of the outer square wall 130, and second mainly flowsthrough the densely distributed air passages 116 adjacent the bottomcircumference 112 of the inner hollow shell 102.

A part of the air 190, which is involved in combustion with thecombustible gaseous mixture 183 from the burner ports 182, becomes theflame 184, wherein the combustion which generates exhaust gases 189continuously takes place to a top 186 of the flame 184. As illustrated,the top 186 of the flame 184 is under the bottom side 174 of the utensil168. Another part of the air 190 which is not involved in the combustionis then heated, and continuously flows up to be an air 196 having thesame highest temperature as that of the top flame 186. In thissituation, the hottest air 196 and the top flame 186 heat the bottomside 174 of the utensil 168. In addition, the hottest air 196 and theexhaust gases 189 from the top flame 186 flow outwardly throughout thegap 172 and continuously flow upwardly along the cylindrical outer side176 of the utensil 168 away from the flame 184, which further heat theutensil 168 through heating its cylindrical outer side 176. Therefore, ahigh heating efficiency in cooking can be achieved with such regulatedheat convection, wherein the hottest air and exhaust gases flow mostlyaround the outer side 176 and the bottom side 174 of the utensil 168.

It would be appreciated that in above illustrated flame heat convection,the inner circularly arcuate hollow shell 102 contributes significantlyto regulate the heat convection including the air convection. First, thedensely distributed air passages on the lower part of the inner hollowshell 102 will provide a less flow resistance for the secondary air tothe burner upper section 178, wherein the secondary air is necessary forcombustion of the combustible gas-primary air mixture to form the flame.Second, the hot air and exhaust gases are surrounded by the inner hollowshell 102, so that they are forced to flow upwardly to heat the bottomside 174 of the utensil 168. Then they continuously flow outwardlythrough the gap 172 to heat the outer side 176 of the utensil.

Such regulation of the heat convection is extremely important forachieving the high heating efficiency in cooking from using the gasstove where there is a very limited height in space between the top cap180 and the bottom side 174 of the utensil 168. In such setting, thepressured combustible gas-primary air mixture 183, which flows out ofthe burner ports 182, has a high speed and burns immediately with theoxygen in air, which generates the flame exhaust gases 189 having a highupward speed. However, the bottom side 174 of the utensil 168 blocks theupward pathway for the hot gases including the exhaust gases 189 and air196. In that situation, the natural heat convection pattern of theflame, which is illustrated previously, is disturbed so that a majorityof the hot gases flow transversely and outwardly, in addition to a partof the hot gases possibly downwardly flowing towards the cooktop 166 ofthe stove if there is absence of the inner hollow shell 102. This willresult in a lower efficiency of heating the utensil 168, as contrastedwith a higher heating efficiency of the present invention.

It would be further appreciated that besides the above illustrated heatconvection which is regulated by the inner hollow shell 102, thesufficiently wide gap 172, which is provided by the outer square wall130, also contributes significantly since the sufficiently wide gap 172provides the pathway, which promotes to achieve the regulated flame heatand air convection.

In addition to regulate the heat conviction, the first embodiment 100 ofthe present invention is further able to regulate the heat radiationfrom the flame 184, which is illustrated previously. Therefore theregulated heat radiation also contributes a high heating efficiency incooking.

It would be appreciated that, the heat radiation happens from an objecthaving a higher temperature to its surrounding areas having a lowertemperature. Therefore, the outer surface 106 of the heated inner hollowshell 102 also radiates heat outwardly. However, with the presence ofthe outer square wall 130, which is positioned to surround the innerhollow shell 102, the radiated heat from the outer surface 106 of theinner hollow shell 102 is blocked by the outer square wall 130.Therefore the outer square wall 130 is served as a thermal wall topreserve a high temperature in the region around the upper section 178of the burner, wherein the region is under the utensil 168. Therefore,the outer square wall 103 additionally contributes to the high heatingefficiency in cooking.

The above mechanistic illustration for the high heating efficiency incooking can be proved by test results, which are illustrated in asection of EXAMPLE I of this Application.

It would be appreciated that, as compared with the structural featuresof the first embodiment 100 which have been disclosed above, variousvariations of the structural features are readily available. Forexample, a rolled bead or a rim can be added to the respective top andbottom circumferences 110 and 112 of the inner hollow shell 102 tothereby enhance its mechanical strength. In addition, the inner hollowshell 102 is not limited to be in round shape. In fact, any symmetricalshape is appropriate. For example, the inner hollow shell 102 can be ina shape having multiple sides, such as a tetragonal, pentagonal andhexagonal shape. For the same reason, the outer square wall 130 also canbe in any symmetrical shape, as compared with the square shape disclosedabove.

Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated upward plate 132′ havingstructural variations, as compared with the structure of the upwardplate 132 from the first preferred embodiment 100 of the presentinvention. At least one post 139 projecting downwardly is placed on thebottom edge 140′ of each upward plate 132′. The post 139 is used tosupport the upward plate 132′. Therefore, an outer square wall is alsosupported, which is assembled with four identical upward plates 132′. Inaddition, a high-temperature rubber member 141 can be placed on thebottom of each post 139 so that the smooth top surface of the cooktop166 can be protected.

The removable heat transfer regulating apparatus 100 including the innerhollow shell 102 and outer square wall 130 is preferably made of durablemetals and metal alloys including iron and steel. In addition,appropriate surface treatments including coatings can be applied to theinner and outer surfaces 108 and 106 of the inner hollow shell 102,which enhance regulation of the heat convection and heat radiation, andthe durability of the apparatus 100. The coatings are included thosefrom chemical and electrochemical treatments and the ceramic coating aswell, which have a preferred white or black color. Similarly, thesurface treatments also can be applied to the exterior and interiorsurfaces 134 and 136 of the outer square wall 130.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated second preferred embodiment200 of the present invention removable flame heat transfer regulatingapparatus for the burner of the gas stove, comprising an innercircularly arcuate hollow shell 202 and an outer circular wall 230.

It would be appreciated that the inner circularly arcuate hollow shell202 is identical to the inner circularly arcuate hollow shell 102 of thefirst embodiment 100. Therefore, a disclosure of the structural featuresof the inner hollow shell 202 will not repeated. These structuralfeatures are designated with three-digit numerals, wherein the partnumbers are the same with the addition of a “200” to the part numbers todifferentiate those same features in the embodiment 100.

As illustrated, the outer circular wall 230 includes a height “H12”, anexterior side 234, an interior side 236, a top circumference or edge238, a bottom circumference or edge 240, and a rotational axis 242 whichis aligned with a rotational axis 214 of the inner hollow shell 202. Asfurther illustrated, a plurality of air passages 244 of openings areevenly distributed therethrough the outer circular wall 230. It would beappreciated that from the spirit and scope of the present invention, anumber of the air passages 244 of the outer circular wall 230 are morethan the number of the air passages 216 of the inner hollow shell 202.

The outer circular wall 230 is further comprised of at least threeidentical upward extensions 246 projecting upwardly from the topcircumference 238, wherein they are circumferentially spaced apart. Theextension 246 is comprised of a transverse top end 252, first and secondupward sides 248 and 250 having an identical height “H13”. However, theheight “H13” of each of the upward sides 248 and 250 is designed to beshorter than the height “H12” of the top edge of the outer circular wall230, and the length of the top end 252 is generally longer than thelength of each of the upward sides 248 and 250.

It would be appreciated that the identical extensions 246 of the presentinvention are designed to have a triple-function. The first one is tosupport a utensil having a flat bottom side such as the pan, or having aconvex shaped bottom side such as the wok. The second one is to providea gap which is the pathway for the outward and upward heat flow of theflame exhaust gases and air. The third one is to shield an undesirableheat flow for preventing it from heating a handle of the utensil. Itwould be appreciated that at least three extensions 246 are appropriatefor supporting a utensil.

Referring further to FIG. 6, there is illustration that a first group ofan upper hook 262 and a lower hook (not shown) or attachment means arepositioned on the interior side 236 of the outer circular wall 230. Thehooks are positioned in parallel and rightward adjacent a verticallinear position 247, wherein the vertical linear position is alignedwith a middle position of the extension 246. In addition, the upper hook262 is adjacent the top edge 238 and the lower hook is adjacent thebottom edge 240 of the outer circular wall 230. Similarly, a secondgroup of an upper hook 263 and a lower hook (not shown) or attachmentmeans are placed on the interior side 236 of the outer circular wall 230in parallel and leftward adjacent the position 247. The upper hook 263is adjacent the top edge 238 and the lower hook is adjacent the bottomedge 240.

The attachment means including hooks are designed on the outer circularwall 230 to affix three identical optional utensil supports 256, 258 and260, so that a small utensil can be placed on the optional cookwaresupports for cooking. The first identical optional utensil support 256is illustrated in FIG. 6 to be in a generally inverted “U” shape,comprising a top transverse section 256 a, an identical first downwardsection 256 b and a second downward section (not shown).

When in use of the first optional supports 256, the first downwardsection 256 b is inserted into the second group of the upper and lowerhooks which are leftward adjacent the vertical linear position 247 ofthe first identical extension 246. The second downward section of thesupport 256 is inserted into the first group of the upper and lowerhooks which are rightward adjacent the position 247 of the secondidentical extension 246. The second identical extension is clockwiseadjacent the first identical extension. Similarly, the second and thirdoptional supports 258 and 260 can be affixed. Therefore, the toptransverse sections 256 a, 258 a and 260 a of the respective first,second and third identical utensil supports 256, 258 and 260 form anequilateral triangle, so that a small pan can be conveniently placedonto the top of the triangle for cooking.

It would be appreciated that, from placing the attachment means adjacentthe vertical linear position 247 of the outer circular wall 230, thesmallest equilateral triangle can be achieved, so that an even smallerutensil can be supported by the top of the smallest equilateraltriangular supports. In addition from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention, the attachment means can be placed to any positionson the outer circular wall 230, so long as the optional utensil supportscan be supported by the attachment means. It would be furtherappreciated that with the presence of the first and second groups of theupper and lower attachment means, various variations of the optionalutensil supports can be formed. One of them is similar to theconfiguration of the optional utensil supports illustrated in FIG. 4B,which will not be repeated again. It would be additionally appreciatedthat each group of the attachments is comprised of at least oneattachment.

Example I

The following are examples of the present invention flame heat transferregulating apparatus for the burner upper structure of the gas stove,which are offered by way of illustration only and not by way oflimitation and restriction.

(1) Construction of the Removable Flame Heat Transfer RegulatingApparatus:

A removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus was constructedfollowing the illustration which is disclosed for the embodiment 100 ofthe present invention, comprising an inner circularly arcuate hollowshell 102 and an outer square wall 130. The inner hollow shell 102 wascomprised of a top circumference 110 having a diameter of approximately19.2 cm, a bottom circumference 112 having a diameter of approximately7.3 cm, and a height of 3 cm between the top and bottom circumferences.

Two groups of holes served as the air passages 116 were drilled topenetrate through the inner hollow shell 102 with a diameter ofapproximately 6 mm for each air passage 116. The air passages 116 in thefirst group were circumferentially spaced apart along an uppercircumference 118 having a diameter of approximately 18.2 cm that wasadjacent the top circumference 110, wherein two adjacent passages 116were separated with approximately 3 cm. The upper circumference 118 wasapproximately 1 cm lower than the top circumference 110. The airpassages 116 in the second group were circumferentially spaced apartalong a lower circumference 120 having a diameter of approximately 15cm, wherein the lower circumference 120 was positioned approximately 0.7cm higher than the bottom circumference 112 which is positioned. In thesecond group, two adjacent air passages were separated withapproximately 1.5 cm.

The outer square wall 130 was constructed as illustrated in FIG. 4,comprising four identical upward plates 132 which were connected to oneanother. Each upward plate 132 had a length of 21 cm and a height “H2”of 4.2 cm. An extension 146 had a top end 152 of 4 cm and the identicalfirst and second upward sides 148 and 150 with a height “H3” of 1.8 cm.The extension 146 was positioned upwardly at the center of a toptransverse edge 138 of each upward plate 132. Therefore, the maximumheight of the upward plate 132 was 6 cm.

A plurality of air passages 144 of openings having a diameterapproximately 5 mm are evenly distributed therethrough each identicalplate 132. The air passages 144 were constructed, which formed a matrixpattern having twelve columns and three rows on each identical upwardplate 132. In addition, attachments 162,164,163 and 165 were constructedaccording to the illustration of FIG. 4. Two identical optional utensilsupports 154 and 156 were affixed to the outer square wall 130, whichwere made with round iron rods for supporting a small cooking utensil.

(2) Installation of the Removable Flame Heat Transfer RegulatingApparatus onto the Gas Stove Cooktop:

A gas stove cooktop having a recessed surface was used for theexperiments, which was similar to the cooktop illustrated in FIG. 2. Thecooktop contained upper sections 178 of the respective four round gasburners with the sealed gas burner assemblies and two extended removablegrates. Each burner upper section had only a flame ring. A plurality ofthe laterally oriented rectangularly shaped burner ports 182 werecircumferentially spaced on the side wall of the top cap 180 that is apart of the ring. For positioning each upper section of the gas burner,there is a round protrusion as a part of the recessed surface of thecooktop, wherein a neck of the burner upper section was positioned atthe center of the round protrusion which has an approximately diameterof 12 cm and a height of 1 cm. The two extended grates were extendedfrom the front to the back of the cooktop. Each of which was placed overa front gas burner and a rear gas burner to support two utensils. Theheight was 6 cm from the top of the grate to the recessed surface of thecooktop, which was equal to the maximum height of each identical upwardplate 132 of the square wall 130.

After removing the right side extended gate, the inner hollow shell 102at its bottom circumference 112 was positioned onto the round protrusionto surround the upper section 178 of a right front gas burner. The outersquare wall 130 was then positioned onto the recessed surface of thecooktop 166 to surround the inner hollow shell 102, wherein theinstallation was exactly followed by the illustration in FIG. 5. Theheight of the burner cap 180 was 1 cm above the round protrusion, whichwas lower than the 3 cm height of the top circumference 110 of the innerhollow shell 102 relative to the round protrusion. In addition, the topcircumference 110 of the inner hollow shell 102 had the height of 4 cmrelative to the recessed surface of the cooktop 166, and was positionedlower than the top square transverse edge 138 of the outer square wall130, which had the height of 4.2 cm.

(3) Experimental Conditions:

a. References and Tested samples: times needed to boil an amount ofwater were served as References from using the commercial cooktop asillustrated in above section (2). The water was retained inside of autensil which was placed on the top of the extended grate of thecommercial cooktop. Times needed to boil the same amount of water fromthe setting as illustrated in FIG. 5 of the present invention wereserved as the Tested samples, wherein the water was retained inside ofthe same utensil. The Tested samples were compared with the Referencesfrom which to judge if the present invention achieved the scope of anincreased heating efficiency in cooking.

b. Combustible gas flow rates: The right-front burner on the cooktop waschosen for the experiments. A minimum gas flow rate was used to producea weak flame according to a mark “LO” of the commercial cooktop. Themark “LO” is an indication of the maximum turning angle of a gas controlknob of the commercial gas stove. The weak flame was kept to burn whenthe experiments were idle. Using this procedure, the gas burnerincluding the surrounding area of the cooktop was kept to be the sametemperature before testing the References and Tested samples. Intesting, a medium turning angle of the gas flow rate control knob wasused according to a mark “5”. An additional sign of an arrow was drawnon the knob for precisely aligning with the mark “5” on the cooktop.Therefore, a consistent turning angle was used in the experiments, whichresulted in the same gas flow rate for generating the flame to obtainthe References and Tested samples. In addition, the experiments weretaken place after 10 p.m. of the night in the same day so that variationon the supplied pressure of the city combustible gases was considered tobe minimal.

c. Testing medium: the tap water was used as the testing medium. Thewater which was collected into first, second and third large containerswas stored in a storage room at least 24 hours before the experiment.The purpose of the water storage is for equalizing the temperature ofthe water in three containers, when the water was initially collectedfrom the running tap water. The temperature of the water in the threecontainers was measured multiple times during the entire experimentsbefore the water was used.

The tap water was collected into the three big containers for thefollowing purposes. The water in the first big container was for firstequalizing the temperature of an empty utensil which was used as thewater container in the experiments. In a process to equalize thetemperature of the utensil, the empty utensil was first rinsed by therunning tap water, and second was submerged into the water of the firstcontainer for a while. After that, the water inside of the utensil wascompletely poured back to the first container for a reuse purpose in theentire experiments. The water in the second big container was for secondequalizing the temperature of the empty utensil. After twice ofequalizing the temperature, the utensil was used for collecting thewater which was retained in the third extra large container. The waterinside of the utensil was going to be heated in the experiment.

d. Utensil: two utensils were used in the tests. The first one was astandard stainless steel round tea kettle having a flat bottom side witha diameter of approximately 19.3 cm. The kettle had a steam whistle atthe top of a mouth connected to a body of the kettle. The kettle waschosen to represent as a smaller utensil. In testing, the kettle wasplaced on the top of the optional utensil supports as illustrated inFIG. 3. When measuring an amount of the collected water, the kettlefilled up with the water was first positioned on a horizontal place, andthen the amount of the water inside of the kettle was adjusted fromadding in or pulling out according to a top water level which reachedthe mark of a joint line where the mouth was affixed to the body of thekettle. The second utensil was a big aluminum pot with a glass topcover, which was used to represent a larger utensil. The pot had acylindrical body with a diameter of approximately 23.5 cm. When in useof the pot, the equal amount of water was first measured from using thesmall round kettle. Then the inside water was completely poured into thebig pot.

e. Order of the testing: First test: the amount of the water in thesmall round kettle was heated where the round kettle was placed on theflame heat regulating apparatus having the optional cookware supportsfrom the present invention. Second test: the same amount of the water inthe same kettle was heated wherein the kettle was placed on the expendedgrate of the commercial gas stove cooktop as illustrated in section (2).Third test, the same amount of the water which was placed in the big potwas heated while using the commercial cooktop setting. Fourth test: thesame amount of the water in the same big pot was heated when the big potwas placed on the flame heat regulating apparatus from the presentinvention.

f. Times determined for boiling the water: when using the small roundkettle, the times for boiling the water were determined according to anearly moment that the steam whistle sounded loudly. When in use of thebig pot, the times were determined that a loud sound of the boilingwater was recognized.

(4) Testing results:

The following Table 1 lists the testing results of each category whichis illustrated above. The results demonstrate that at least more than14.6% of the increased heating efficiency in cooking are achieved withapplying both the smaller and larger utensils, as compared with thetimes needed for the commercial cooktop to boil the same amount of thewater. The results of the increased heating efficiency demonstrateimportance of regulating the flame heat radiation and flame convictionincluding the air convection for saving energies in cooking. Therefore,the teaching from the test results is consistent with the spirit andscope of the present invention. In addition, the testing results alsodemonstrate that application of the present invention removal flame heattransfer regulating apparatus significantly reduces the combustible gasconsumption and greenhouse gas production in cooking.

TABLE 1 Testing results for the Tested Samples (Sample) and References(Ref.) Difference Test Times to Ref. % to Efficiency Test SubjectUtensil (min.) (min.) Ref. % (+) 1 Sample Kettle 19.75 −4.50 81.44%18.56% 2 Ref. Kettle 24.25 3 Ref. Big Pot 24.67 4 Sample Big Pot 21.08−3.59 85.44% 14.56%

In the above disclosures of the present invention, the first and secondembodiments 100 and 200 of the removable flame heat transfer regulatingapparatus are illustrated for the gas stove cooktop having the sealedburner mounting assembly. However, it would be appreciated that thepresent invention is also appropriate for the gas stove cooktop havingthe opened burner mounting assembly. In addition, from the spirit andscope of the present invention, the outer wall 130 or 230 can be anextended one, which extends to surround two side-by-side gas burners ofthe stove cooktop.

It would be further appreciated that, from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention, the inner hollow shell 102 or 202 and the respectiveouter wall 130 or 230 can be an integrated one.

In the configuration for the integrated inner shell 102 and outer squarewall 130, the top circumference 110 of the inner hollow shell 102 issimultaneously affixed to each of four upward plate 132 of the outersquare wall 130. One embodiment of the affixation takes place at aposition 137 on the interior surface 136 of each upward plate 132, asillustrated in FIG. 4. The position 137 is aligned with the middle ofthe upward plate 132 and a position which is slightly lower than the topedge 138 of the upward plate. Therefore, the rotational axis 114 of theinner hollow shell 102 and the symmetric axis 142 of the outer squarewall 130 are in alignment. It would be appreciated that afteraffixation, in one embodiment, both the inner hollow shell 102 and theouter square wall 130 in the integrated form can be stood on thecooktop.

Obviously, other embodiments for integration are also available. Forexample, the top circumference 110 of the inner hollow shell 102 can beaffixed to four positions of the top square edge 138 of the outer squarewall 130. In addition, the top circumference 110 of the inner hollowshell 102 can be affixed on the top of the top square edge 138 of theouter square wall 130 if there is a rim on the top circumference 110 ofthe inner hollow shell.

For integration of the inner hollow shell 202 and the outer circularwall 230 from one embodiment of affixation, the top circumference 210 ofthe inner hollow shell 202 is affixed to an upper circumference of theouter circular wall 230. The upper circumference is positioned on theinterior surface 236 in parallel but slightly lower than the topcircumference 238 of the outer circular wall 230. Therefore, therotational axis 214 of the inner hollow shell 202 and the symmetric axis242 of the outer circular wall 230 aligned together.

It would be appreciated that other embodiments are also appropriate forintegration of the inner hollow shell 202 and outer circular wall 230,which are the same as the disclosed embodiments for integrating theinner hollow shell 102 and outer square wall 130.

Based on the integrated models which are illustrated above, a furtherstructural variation can be conducted. One embodiment will be that theouter wall 130 or 230 is reduced to be a plurality of identical members,which each member has functions to support a utensil, preventundesirable heating of a utensil handle, and provide a pathway for hotgases to flow outwardly and upwardly. Under this principle, for example,the outer square wall 130 or the outer circular wall 230 can be reducedto comprise at least three identical upward strips, which are evenlyspaced apart to affix to the inner circularly arcuate hollow shell. Eachstrip has a width which is the same as the length of the top end 152 ofthe extension 146. In addition, each strip has a height which is thesame height as the maximum height of the upward plate 132. Therefore, abottom end of each of at least three strips stands on the cooktop of thegas stove, and a top end supports the utensil and blocks the undesirableheat that could heat a handle of a utensil.

Furthermore, it would be appreciated that, the present inventionremovable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus is only comprised ofthe circularly arcuate hollow shell. Under this structuralconfiguration, the hollow shell is positioned on the cooktop to surroundthe upper section of a gas burner, and the commercial grate is used tosupport the utensil.

In terms of structural variation on materials used for manufacturing theapparatus, it will be appreciated that ceramics is also an appropriatechoice, such as alumina, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, titaniumcarbide, magnesium oxide and silicon dioxide, or any their combinations.This is because ceramics has the excellent thermal properties includinghigh melting point, large heat capacity, low thermal conductivity andlow thermal expansion, mechanical properties including hardness andcompressive strength, and durability including resistance to corrosion.In addition, the fracture toughness can be largely improved byimplementing the fiber enhanced manufacturing process, which forms thefiber enhanced ceramics. These properties of the ceramics fit thematerial requirements for manufacturing the apparatus.

Therefore, it would be positive for maintaining high temperature in thespace under a utensil if the apparatus including the inner hollow shelland outer wall is made of the ceramics particularly due to its largeheat capacity and low thermal conductivity. This is also advantageous tothe object of achieving high heating efficiency in cooking from thepresent invention.

(11) The Gas Burner Having Improved Burner Ports and Appropriate Sizable(Outer) Flame Ring

It would be appreciated that, the apparatus disclosed above isincorporated with the existing gas burner having the laterally orientedconventional burner ports of openings. The structural characteristics ofthe burner ports is disclosed in the above section of “Description ofthe Prior Art”. In addition, two major disadvantages, which are negativeto achieve high heating efficiency in cooking, are also disclosed forthe conventional burner ports because of their association with theflame transverse elongation particularly under the maximum flow rate ofthe combustible gaseous mixture.

Therefore, for the objective of achieving high efficiency in heating ofthe most popularly and probably usable utensils especially in thepresence of the flame generated by the maximally pressured mixture ofthe combustible gases and primary air, an appropriate strategy from thepresent invention is to direct the flame burning to align with an anglerelative to the transverse orientation. In this configuration, the flameburning is angularly positioned from the respective burner ports to thebottom side of a utensil, wherein the top flame can directly come intocontact with the bottom side of the utensil. This will eliminate bothproblems of the large area of the clod spot and flame transverseelongation including the chilling effect. Following this strategy, thepresent invention changes structure of the commercial burner portsincluding their orientations.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is an illustrated upper section 300 of a gasburner including a plurality of the identical improved burner ports 314that are the respective openings from the present invention. The uppersection 300, which is positioned onto the cooktop 166, is comprised of atop removable round cap 302 and an upward hollow neck 340 that isaffixed onto the cooktop 166, wherein the top cap 302 is positioneddownwardly to mate with the hollow neck 340.

The cap 302 is comprised of a transverse top 304, which is connected toa downward circular wall 306 to thereby form an inner recess 330. Thewall has an outer side 308, an inner side 310 and a bottom ring 312. Inaddition, a plurality of the identical downward narrow slots 314 arecircumferentially and radially spaced apart to cut a part of thecircular wall including the bottom ring 312. The upward hollow neck 340is comprised of an upward circular wall 342 having a top ring 346 thatmatches the downward circular wall 306 of the cap 302, and a centralupward opening 344 for passing a pressured mixture 360 of thecombustible gases and primary air.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 8A, the improved burner port is originallyfrom a downward slot 314 having a narrow width. The narrow slot iscomprised of a larger expanding section 314 a having a larger outwardopening 326, which is connected to a smaller section 314 b having asmaller rectangular inward opening 322 and a symmetric axis 332 that isin a transverse orientation. The outward opening 326 and inward opening322 are positioned on the respective outer and inner sides 308 and 310of the circular wall. The expanding_section 314 a is comprised of arectangular interior ascending top surface 316, a transverse downwardbottom opening 318, and two identical downward sides. The ascending topsurface 316 has an angle “D” relative to the symmetrical axis 332 of thesmall section 314 b. In a preferred embodiment, the angle “D” has45-degrees. In addition, two downward sides have a shape of the rightangled trapezium, which are identical to the cross sectional view of thesection 314 a in FIG. 8A. The smaller section 314 b is comprised of aninterior top 324 that is a rectangular surface, and two downward sides328, which forms the downward opening 320.

Referring further to FIGS. 8 and 8 a, the first end 316 a of theascending top surface 316 is connected to the outer side 308 of thecircular wall 306. The opposite second end 316 b of the ascending topsurface 316 is connected to the top rectangular surface 324 of thesmaller section 314 b. In this setting, the length of the rectangularsurface 324 represents the width of the narrow slot 314. In addition,the transverse downward bottom opening 318 of the larger expandingsection 314 a is connected to a transverse downward bottom opening 320of the smaller section 314 b. The connection forms the downward bottomopening of the slot 314, which is aligned with the bottom ring 312 ofthe cap 302.

It would be appreciated that, after the top cap 302 is positioned tomate with the hollow neck 340, the identical narrow slots turn to therespective identical improved burner ports 314 of the present invention,wherein the outward openings are outlets 326, and the inward openingsare inlets 322 of the respective burner ports.

Referring to FIG. 8, after the pressured combustible gaseous mixture 360entering into an inner chamber constructed mainly by the inner recess330 of the cap 302, the pressured mixture 360 first passes through thesmaller section 314 b of the opening that is served as a nozzle of theburner port and then enters into the larger expanding section 314 a ofthe opening, wherein the orientation of the nozzle 314 b is aligned withthe sideward symmetrical axis 332.

It would be appreciated that the combustible gaseous mixture flows at ahigher speed in the nozzle 314 b, as compared with a lower speed in theexpanding section 314 a, when the combustible gaseous mixture 360 thatenters the upward opening 344 of the burner neck 340 has a pressure (orflow rate) selected by a user. This is because of the larger expandingcross sectional areas of the larger expanding section 314 a that are inparallel with a surface of the outlet 326. The larger areas are comparedwith the smaller constant rectangular cross sectional areas of thesmaller section 314 b. In this configuration, it results in a stableflow of the combustible gaseous mixture inside of the larger expandingsection 314 a, which further leads to a stable flame kernel at theoutlet 326 of the burner port 314, when the mixture is ignited by anelectric lighter (not shown). In addition, the stable flame kernel isfurther supported by the secondary air that flows through the apparatusfrom the surrounding areas of the flame. Therefore, the presentinvention can form stable flame kernels, particularly in the situationof the supplied combustible gaseous mixture 360 having the highestpressure.

In addition, it would be appreciated that the flame kernel will bealigned with the preferred angle of 45 degrees of the ascending topsurface 316 of the burner port 314, which further results in a flame toburn aligning with the same angle. The angled flame can directly comeinto contact with the bottom side of the utensil to thereby efficientlyheat the utensil in cooking. This rationalization can be proved by theexperiment results, which are listed in the following Table 2.

Example II

The following are examples of the present invention removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner having theimproved burner ports from the present invention, which are offered byway of illustration only and not by way of limitation and restriction.

A cap 302 was constructed according to the above illustrated structuralcharacteristics including 32 improved burner ports 314. The cap includedthe downward circular wall 306 having a height of 1.1 cm, an outercircular side 308 having a diameter of 6.4 cm, and an inner circularside 310 having a diameter of 5.1 cm, wherein the height and the innercircular side were the same as those of an existing commercial caphaving 24 laterally oriented conventional rectangular ports. Theimproved burner port 314 had a width 324 of approximately 0.3 cm,wherein the height of the outward opening 326 was approximately 0.5 cm,and the length of the transverse bottom opening 318 of the largerexpanding section 314 a was also approximately 0.5 cm. In addition, thedownward surface 328 of the smaller section 314 b had a length ofapproximately 0.15 cm, which was the height of the smaller section 314b. The upper side 324 as well as the lower opening 320 had a length ofapproximately 0.30 cm, which was also the width of the smaller section314 b.

In this setting, a combined area of 32 inlets 322 was approximately 144mm² for the constructed cap 302 from the present invention. The area of144 mm² was similar to a combined area of 150 mm² for 24 square inletsfrom the commercial cap, since each square inlet had a dimension ofapproximately 0.25 cm×0.25 cm. Therefore, the combustible gaseousmixture 360 under a pressure had the same flow speed when it flew into32 inlets 322 of the constructed cap 302, as compared with a flow speedwhen the same pressured mixture 360 flew into 24 inlets of thecommercial cap.

The experimental procedures of the EXAMPLE II were basically the same asthose of the EXAMPLE I, except for the experiments in the EXAMPLE IIthat were conducted in the early of the afternoon. In that time periodwhen the experiments were completed, the pressure deviations of the citysupplied combustible gases were assumed to be minimal.

In addition, several experimental conditions were as below:

-   -   (1) Only the circularly hollow shall 102 as illustrated in        EXAMPLE I was used in the experiments of the EXAMPLE II. In        addition, the extended commercial grate was used to support the        kettle that was the only utensil used in the experiments. The        distance between the top side 316 a of the burner port outlet        326 to the bottom side of the kettle was approximately 3 cm;    -   (2) The maximum pressure (or flow rate) of the supplied        combustible gasses was used, according to the gas flow control        knob that was positioned to align with the mark “HI” on the        cooktop. In the experiments, the rate was assured by locking the        gas flow control knob into a clicked position that was        originally manufactured; and    -   (3) The test order was a twice-measurement for the reference,        where the commercial burner cap (abbreviation: C-Cap) was used,        and one test for the sample, where the constructed burner cap of        the present invention was used (abbreviation: I-Cap).

During the experiments, it was observed that the stable and strong flameburning at an angle of approximately 45 degrees relative to thetransverse orientations, wherein the flame top directly came intocontact with the kettle bottom side. The top of the flame from 32improved burner ports 314 formed a circle having a diameter ofapproximately 13 cm, which was significantly less than the 19.3 cmdiameter of the kettle bottom side. The top flame from the improvedburner ports first touched the kettle bottom side and then turnedradially and transversely to form a transverse ring of the flame,wherein the flame ring also touched the kettle bottom side before itended. As a contrast, the flame having the transverse elongation wasobserved in the experiments for the conventional burner ports of thecommercial cap, wherein the flame was almost in parallel with therespective transverse directions and the top of the flame did notdirectly come into contact with the bottom side of the kettle.

The experimental results in Table 2 prove that an increase of heatingefficiency 10.92% is achieved from applying the present invention burnercap having the improved burner ports. The increase of the heatingefficiency is positively assured, particularly from very smallpercentage (0.6%) of differences when the reference C-Cap was twicetested.

TABLE 2 Testing results for the Tested Samples (I-Cap) and References(C-Cap) Difference Test Times to C-Cap % to ave. Efficiency Test SubjectUtensil (min.) (min.) C-Cap % (+) 1 C-Cap Kettle 10.38 2 C-Cap Kettle10.50 3 I-Cap Kettle 9.30 −1.14 89.08% 10.92%

It would be appreciated that, the expanding section 314 a of the openinghaving the ascending top surface 316 actually changes orientation of theflow of the combustible gaseous mixture 360, from a zero-degree to a45-degree relative to the transverse direction, when the mixture passesthrough the nozzle 314 b into the expanding section 314 a. Similarly,change of the orientation of the nozzle 314 b is also available from thepresent invention. Therefore, various variations on the structures ofthe improved burner port are rationalized, as compared with theillustrated embodiment 314, for achieving the angular flow of thecombustible mixture.

Referring to FIG. 8B, there is illustrated another embodiment 314′ ofthe identical improved burner ports of the openings from the presentinvention as the structural variations of the burner ports 314 in FIG.8A. In that configuration, an orientation of a smaller section of theopening served as a nozzle 314′b, which is aligned with the symmetricaxis 332′, has an angle “G” relative to the horizontal direction.Accordingly, each of the identical burner ports 314′ is an opening thatpenetrates through the cap circular wall 306. Therefore, a bottom side318′ of a large expanding section 314′a of the opening can be positionedto align with an angle “E” relative to the cap transverse bottom ring312′. An ascending top surface 316′ is at an angle “F”, wherein theangle “F” is larger than the angle “E”. In this setting, it would beappreciated that, according to the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, no matter how to alter the angle of the orientation of thenozzle 314′b, an outlet 326′ of the larger expanding section must belarger than an inlet 322′ of the smaller section 314′b, wherein theangle “F” is always larger than the angle “E”, so that the stable flamekernels can be obtained.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 8C, there is illustrated additionalembodiment 314″ of the identical improved burner ports of the openingsthat are upwardly and radially spaced apart on the top 304 of the cap302. Each of the identical ports 314″ has an upward symmetric axis 332″,and is comprised of a smaller section 314″b of the opening connected toa larger expanding section 314″a of the opening. The smaller sectionserved as a nozzle is aligned with the upward axis 332″ having a90-degree relative to the transverse direction, wherein an inlet 322″ ofthe nozzle is connected to an inner recess 330″. The larger expandingsection 314″a is also upward positioned, comprising an outlet 326″ thatis aligned with the top transverse side of the top 304 and two interiorascending surfaces 316″.

In the structural configuration illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C, it would beappreciated that, the burner ports can be in the round shape.Specifically, the burner port 314″ is comprised of the expanding section314″a of the opening that is in a shape of a symmetric frustum of acone, which is concentrically connected to the nozzle 314″b that is in ashape of a cylindrical opening. The burner port 314 can be a half of theport 314″ to comprise a downward opening. Regarding the burner port314′, the larger expanding section 314′a can be an asymmetric frustum ofan opening, which is connected to the smaller section 314′b that is acylindrical opening.

From illustration of FIGS. 8A-8C, the present invention discloses astructural characteristics of changing the orientation of the nozzles ofthe identical improved burner ports from a zero degree to a 90-degreerelative to the transverse direction, which correlates to change of theburner port locations from the circular wall to the top of the cap.

In a preferred embodiment for positioning these burner ports, it can beclassified as: (1) the improved burner ports can be positioned onto thecircular wall 306 if the angle “G” of the nozzle is ranging from equalto a zero degree to less than a 45-degree; (2) the improved burner portscan be positioned at the joint where the cap top 304 is connected to thecircular wall 306 of the cap 302 if the angle “G” is equal to a45-degree; and (3) the ports can be positioned onto the top 304 if theangle “G” is ranging from larger than a 45-degree to equal to a90-degree. However, as illustrated above, no matter how to alter theangle of the orientation of the nozzle, the outlet of the largerexpanding section that has an interior ascending top surface must belarger than the inlet of the smaller section of each identical improvedburner port according to the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In addition, other structural variations of the improved burner portsare available. Referring to FIG. 8A, instead of having the largerexpanding section 314 a connected to the smaller section 314 b, theimproved burner port can only have the expanding section of an opening,wherein the second end 316 b of the ascending top surface 316 isconnected to the inner circular side 310 of the circular wall 306.

Furthermore, instead of positioning the improved identical burner ports314 onto the cap 302, the identical burner ports can be positioned ontothe circular wall 342 of the hollow neck 340 of the burner for achievingthe same effect. The burner ports 314 can be additionally positioned tocut both the cap bottom ring 312 and the neck top ring 346. It would beappreciated that the structural details of the burner ports in theseoptions are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, suchdetails will not be repeated again.

Regarding a structural variation of the cap, FIG. 8D illustrates that acircumferential sideward protrusion 344 is positioned on the outer side308 of the circular wall 306 to align with the cap top 304, which theprotrusion bottom side 348 that is a circular ring is aligned with theascending top surfaces 316 of the respective identical burner ports 314.Therefore, when it burns the flame along an ascending angle of therespective top surfaces will not be affected by the presence of thesideward protrusion 344. Besides, a downward circular slot 346 ispositioned at a joint where the protrusion 344 is connected to thecircular wall 306 of the cap. The protrusion 344 is designed to preventextinction of the flame kernels if there is liquid dropping to the capin cooking. The downward slot 346 is for stabilizing the flame kernels,when they are formed from igniting the combustible gaseous mixture atthe minimum flow rate (or pressure) that is selected by a user of thestove.

It would be appreciated that, the cap structural variation shown in FIG.8D and burner port variation shown in FIG. 8B can be simultaneouslyapplied to manufacture a cap according to the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

Still following the rationalization of the first reason that causes lossof the thermal energies in the section of “Description of the PriorArt”, it would be appreciated that a burner (outer) flame ring having anextra large diametrical size also can cause loss of the thermal energieseven the burner ports of the flame ring are arranged in the upwardorientation. This rationalization is driven by a practical fact that themost popularly and probably usable utensils have diameters in a narrowrange, for example, from 15 cm to 20 cm. Such practical fact alsodetermines an optimum diametrical size of the top circumference of theinner hollow shell 102 or 202 for the apparatus. Thus, the apparatushaving the determined size cannot resist heat loss if an extra largeflame ring is used.

Therefore, it is critical that diameters of the respective (outer) flamering, the top circumference of the inner hollow shell and the utensilmust be appropriately matched for achieving the best heating efficiencyin cooking.

Hereafter are experimental results, which demonstrate the aboverationalization regarding incorporation with the diameters of therespective flame ring, utensil and inner hollow shell.

Example III

The following are examples of the present invention removable heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner having theimproved burner ports from the present invention, which are offered byway of illustration only and not by way of limitation and restriction.

A commercial burner of a gas stove having the opened burner mountingmanufactured in China was used in the experiments. The burner wasconsisted of a smaller central flame ring and a larger outer flame ring.The outer flame ring had a top cap having an outer diameter of 10.5 cm,an inner diameter of 6.5 cm, and a ring width of 2 cm. The cap had 20identical linear slots, which cut the top of the cap to serve as theupward burner ports. The slots were radially and circumferentiallypositioned on the top of the cap. Each identical linear slot had a widthof approximately 0.1 cm and a length of 2 cm. Therefore, a total of theopened areas were 4 cm² for 20 linear slots. In this setting, theoutermost diameter of a circumference was 10.5 cm, wherein thecircumference was aligned with the outermost positions of the respectivelinear slots. Therefore, the diameter of 10.5 cm was also the outermostdiameter of the outer flame ring after the combustible gaseous mixturethat flew out of the slots was ignited.

As a comparison, an experimental cap was constructed, which wasidentical to the commercial one except for the linear burner ports.Instead of having 20 linear slots, the experimental cap had 30 identicalupward burner ports 314″ of openings. The burner ports werecircumferentially spaced apart to align with a middle circle having adiameter of 8 cm on the cap.

Each identical upward port 314″ of the opening had the structure similarto that disclosed in FIG. 8C. The upward burner port 314″ was consistedof an upper expanding section 314″a of the opening in the shape of afrustum of a right angled cone concentrically connected to a lowercylindrical section 314″b of the opening. The lower cylindrical section314″b that had a diameter of 0.4 cm and a height of approximately 0.3 cmwas served as a nozzle, whose bottom side 322″ was the inlet forentering the combustible gaseous mixture. The upper section 314″a had aheight of approximately 0.2 cm and a top circumference of an openingwith a diameter of 0.75 cm, wherein the opening was the outlet 326″ ofthe burner port. The top frustum shaped section 314″a was served toreduce a speed of the combustible gaseous mixture flowing inside of thesection. This resulted in a stable flame kernel when the mixture havingthe reduced speed was ignited at the round outlet 326″.

In this setting, a total of areas of the inlets 322″ were approximately4 cm² for 30 identical burner ports, which were the same as those of the20 linear slots. Therefore, the combustible gaseous mixture had the samespeed when it flew through 20 linear slots of the commercial cap, ascompared with a speed when it flew into 30 round inlets of theexperimental cap according to a criterion that the combustible gaseousmixture 360 had the same supplied flow rate (or pressure), when it flewinto the central opening 344 of the upward neck 340.

The experiment procedures of the EXAMPLE III were generally the same asthose of the EXAMPLES I and II, except for: (1) the experiments wereconducted after midnight in Shanghai China, since pressure deviations ofthe city supplied combustible gases were considered to be insignificantduring the time period when the experiments were completed; (2) amercury thermometer was used to measure a water temperature of 80 degreeC. as the ending point of the tests.

In addition, other experimental conditions were as follows:

(1) Utensil: A cylindrical stainless steel pot was used as the watercontainer, which had a height of 15.5 cm and diameter of 19.7 cm. Thepot was covered with a glass cover having a central opening. Thethermometer was inserted into the central opening, where the meter headwas submerged at the middle of the water inside of the pot. Thethermometer was supported by a rubber stopper that was positioned on theglass cover. In the experiments, a bottle was used for measuring anamount of water that was used in each test. The amount of water wascalibrated according to obtain a full bottle of the water.

(2) Construction of a Removable Flame Heat Transfer Regulating Apparatus200:

The removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus was constructedfollowing the illustration of the embodiment 200 of the presentinvention, comprising an inner circularly arcuate hollow shell 202 andan outer circular wall 230, which were integrated together. The innerhollow shell 202 was comprised of a top circumference 210 having adiameter of approximately 18.8 cm, a bottom circumference 212 having adiameter of approximately 12.8 cm, and a height of 3.4 cm between thetop circumference and bottom circumference.

Three groups of holes served as the air passages 216 were drilled topenetrate through the shell 202 with a diameter of 6 mm for each airpassage 216. The air passages 216 in the first group werecircumferentially spaced apart along an upper circumference 218 having adiameter of approximately 18 cm that was adjacent the top circumference210, wherein two adjacent passages 216 were separated with approximately4 cm. The upper circumference 218 was approximately 0.7 cm lower thanthe top circumference 210. The air passages 216 in the second group werecircumferentially spaced apart along a middle circumference having adiameter of approximately 16 cm, wherein the middle circumference waspositioned approximately 1.3 cm higher than the bottom circumference 212which is positioned. In second group, two adjacent air passages wereseparated with approximately 2.5 cm. The air passages 216 in the thirdgroup were circumferentially spaced apart along a lower circumference220 having a diameter of approximately 14 cm that was positionedapproximately 0.4 cm higher than the bottom circumference 212. In thethird group, two adjacent air passages were separated with approximately2 cm.

The outer circular wall 230 included a height “H12” of 4 cm, a topcircumference 238 having a diameter of 18.8 cm that was identical to thediameter of a bottom circumference 240. A plurality of air passages 244of openings having the diameter of 5 mm were evenly distributed topenetrate through the outer circular wall 230. As previously disclosed,a number of the air passages 244 therethrough the outer circular wall230 are more than the number of the air passages 216 of the innercircular shell 202. Three identical upward extensions 246 having aheight of 1.2 cm were circumferentially spaced apart on the topcircumference 238 for supporting the utensil. The inner hollow shell 202and outer circular wall 230 were integrated where their topcircumferences were affixed together.

After installation of the apparatus 200 onto the cooktop of the gasstove, a distance of approximately 2.3 cm was measured between the potbottom side and outlet 326″ when the pot was positioned onto the upwardextensions of the apparatus. The distance of 2.3 cm is similar to adistance of approximately 2.5 cm, which was measured in the commercialsetting (see below).

(3) References, Tested Samples and Test Order:

Times needed to heat the full bottle of water were served as References(Ref) from using the commercial setting, which included the commercialutensil supports that were upward posts, the central smaller flame ring,and the outer larger flame ring having the cap with 20 linear slots. TheSample 1 (S1) was for the times to heat the same full bottle of waterwhen the above disclosed apparatus 200 was used to surround the centraland outer flame rings, and support the stainless steel pot. The Sample 2(S2) was for the times to heat the same amount of the water when theabove disclosed apparatus 200 was used to support the pot and surroundthe central and outer rings. However, the outer flame ring had theexperimental cap, which was constructed by the present invention. TheSample 3 (S3) was for the times to heat the same amount of the waterwhen in use of the commercial utensil supports to support the pot, thecentral flame ring and the outer flame ring having the experimental capof the present invention. The test order in the experiments wasReferences, S1, S2 and S3.

(4) The Flow Rate of the City Supplied Combustible Gases:

A flow rate was selected using the setting of References according tothe outermost top flame that reached the outer circumference of the potbottom side from turning the gas control knob that had a line mark. Thenthe direction of the knob was marked on the cooktop. Therefore, aconsistent flow rate was obtained through the entire experiment, whenthe line mark on the knob was aligned with the mark on the cooktop. Inaddition, the flame generated at the selected flow rate was observed toclose a flame that was generated at the maximum flow rate of thecombustible gases.

During the entire experiments, the flame was only turned off one timefor replacing the commercial cap with the constructed cap of the outerflame ring, when was happened after completing measurement of theSample 1. Otherwise, the flame was kept to burn at the selected flowrate of the combustible gases for minimizing variations of the flow ratein use. In addition, the central smaller flame ring was also kept toburn during the experiments

The experimental cap was observed to generate a flame of a circularlyupward wall having a diameter of approximately 9.5 cm, when the flameburned at the improved burner ports. The flame top first touched theutensil bottom side and then turned radially and transversely to be atransverse ring, which also touched the utensil bottom side before itended.

Further, in an additional test for examining if there will be a coldspot on the pot bottom side, it was observed that the water wasinitially boiled around a circle having the diameter of approximately9.5 cm. The water was then very quickly turned to boil along the wholebottom side of the pot. This indicated that a temperature gradient ofthe pot bottom side in cooking was insignificant in the radicaldirections.

(5) Test Results:

The experimental results listed in Table 3 indicate that the burner inthe commercial setting (Ref.) generates a significant energy loss(−18.6%), as compared with the burner which the outer flame ring iscovered by the experimental cap (S3). Comparing with the structuralcharacteristics of the commercial cap, the energy loss from thecommercial setting is rationalized as follows: (1) The large outer flamering, which the outermost circumference of the flame kernels has thediameter of 10.5 cm, and (2) the burner ports of the linear slots.

TABLE 3 Testing results for the Tested Samples (S) and References (Ref.)Difference Efficiency Test Test Type of Times to Ref. % (+) to OrderSubject the Utensil (min.) (min.) % to Ref. Ref. 1 Ref. Pot 6.17 2 S1Pot 5.93 −0.24 96.1 3.9 3 S2 Pot 4.77 −1.40 77.3 22.7 4 S3 Pot 5.02−1.15 81.4 18.6

Alternatively speaking, the comparison tests of Reference and S3indicate that the appropriate diametrical size of the outer flame ringand improved burner ports are significant to increase the heatingefficiency of the flame in cooking, wherein the improved burner port iscomprised of a smaller nozzle having a smaller inlet connected to alarger expanding section having a larger outlet. Therefore, the flamegenerated at the outlets by the combustible gaseous mixture having alower speed is possibly burned more completely in the presence of thesecondary air, as compared with the flame from the commercial cap wherethe combustible gaseous mixture has a higher speed when it is out of theslots. This results in a higher elevated temperature of the flame in thesettings of S2 and S3 using the experimental cap, which further resultsin significant energy saving for heating the water.

The result from testing the setting of S2 indicates additional+4.1%energy saving that is obtained as compared with the result in settlingof S3. This is due to the contribution of the apparatus, which regulatestransfer of the radiated and convected heat. Interestingly, almost thesame energy saving +3.9% is achieved in testing of S1 as compared withtesting of Reference, wherein both settings of S1 and Reference areinvolved in the upward flame pattern. The energy saving +3.9% is alsocontributed by application of the apparatus.

Further comparing a larger energy saving of more than +14.6% in EXAMPLEI with a smaller energy saving of +4% in EXAMPLE III in application ofthe present invention apparatus, it is clear that, the laterallyoriented burner ports contribute to the significant energy loss, ascompared with the upward oriented burner ports.

Therefore the experimental results are consistent with therationalization according to the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, which the improved burner ports significantly increase theheating efficiency of the flame in cooking since they control the flamepattern to prevent a large amount of the energy loss. In addition, theapparatus still contributes a part of the energy saving. Therefore, theexperimental results prove that, the present invention removable flameheat transfer regulating apparatus incorporated with the burner havingthe improved burner ports is a total solution for achieving the bestheating efficiency of the flame in cooking.

Furthermore, it would be appreciated that from the experimental resultsdisclosed above, the present invention can define a set of parameters,which are critical for an optimum structure of the apparatusincorporated with a burner having the improved burner ports topractically achieve the best heating efficiency in cooking according toapplication of a utensil that is the most popularly and probably usableregarding its diametrical size. The critical parameters include optimum19 cm diameter of the top edge of the inner hollow shell and maximum 8cm diameter of a circle that is aligned with outlets of the respectiveburner ports of an (outer) flame ring, wherein the optimum and maximumdiameters are correlated to an optimum distance ranging from 2.5 cm to 3cm between a top position of the outlet and the bottom side of the mostpopularly and probably usable utensil having an optimum diametrical sizeranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.

The maximum 8 cm diameter of the circle is defined according to theresults of EXAMPLE III, wherein the circle is aligned with the centers332″ of the outlets 326″ of the respective burner ports on the outerflame ring that generates the upward flame. It would be appreciated thatthe 8 cm diameter is also appropriate for a burner (outer) flame ringhaving the sideward outlets 326 that are positioned on the outer side ofthe burner upper section illustrated in FIG. 8A, wherein the outletscontrol the flame kernels having the optimum angle of 45 degree relativeto the respective transverse directions. This is because, a circularflame top having the diameter 14 cm is estimated according to the abovedefined optimum distance ranging from 2.5 cm and 3 cm and a combustiblegaseous mixture having a high pressure (or flow rate). The diameter of14 cm is smaller than the diameter between 15 cm and 20 cm for the mostpopularly and probably usable utensils, so that the utensils can bestill efficiently heated.

Furthermore, it would be appreciated that, in the presence of a mediumor a slightly high pressure of the combustible gaseous mixture that isthe most popularly and probably usable conditions in cooking, thediameter of the circular top flame will be smaller than the aboveestimated 14 cm. In those situations, satisfactory saving of thecombustible gases are expected from rationalization that the innerhollow shell additionally prevents the energy loss according to theexperimental results of the EXAMPLE I. In addition, saving of thecombustible gases is also expected when they are under small to mediumpressure, since the apparatus significantly prevents the flame heatloss.

It would be further appreciated that, a satisfactory energy saving isalso expected for utilizing a wok in the setting having the abovedefined parameters. This is because the wok generally has a larger areaof the outer surface having a smooth convex curve, as compared with thepot having a smaller area of a bottom in addition to a connection of90-degree when the bottom side is connected to the cylindrical outerside. Therefore, when applying the present invention apparatusincorporated with the burner having the improved burner ports, theexhaust gases and air at a high temperature in addition to the top ofthe flame will be more likely to flow along the convex curve of the wokaccording to the theory of fluid dynamics after the flame directly comesinto contact with the wok. This results in the efficiently heating ofthe wok.

It would be additionally appreciated that, under the above defined basicparameters, there is still a room for tuning other structural parametersincluding a size of the identical outlet as compared with a size of theinlet, and an orientation of the expanding section of the burner portsif the section is not aligned with the orientation of the nozzle of thesmaller section, so that a best result of saving energies can beachieved.

Defined in detail, the present invention is A removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner having improvedburner ports of openings for a gas stove, comprising: a) an inner hollowshell being an ascending wall having a top opening with a larger sizedtop circumference and a bottom opening with a smaller sizedcircumference, a plurality of air passages of openings being throughsaid shell, wherein said air passages are more densely distributed ontoa lower part of said shell, as compared with said air passages which areless densely distributed onto an upper part of said shell; b) an outerwall, comprising an exterior side, an interior side, a top side and abottom side, wherein a plurality of air passages of openings aredistributed through said outer wall, multiple extensions projectingupwardly are spaced at said top side, wherein each said extensionincludes a top end; c) both said inner hollow shell and outer wall arepositioned onto a cooktop of said gas stove, said inner hollow shellsurrounds an upper section of said burner, wherein said improved burnerports are positioned, each said improved burner port includes anexpanded larger section having a larger sized outlet connected to asmaller section having a smaller sized inlet, said outer wall surroundssaid inner hollow shell and is additionally for supporting an utensil;and d) said apparatus incorporated with said burner having said improvedburner ports enables to increase heating efficiency of flame in cooking,said inner hollow shell regulating transfer of flame heat radiation andconvection, said outer wall provides a gap for flame exhaust gases toflow outwardly and upwardly, one of said upward extensions is served asa heat shield for preventing undesirable heating of a handle of saidutensil in cooking.

Defined broadly, the present invention is a removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner having improvedburner ports of openings for a gas stove, comprising: a) a membercomprising a plurality of air passages being therethrough, wherein saidair passages are more densely distributed onto a lower part of saidmember, as compared with said air passages which are less denselydistributed onto an upper part of said member; b) said member ispositioned onto a cooktop of said gas stove to surround an upper sectionof said burner, wherein said improved burner ports are positioned, eachsaid improved burner port includes an expanded larger section having anascending interior surface and a larger sized outlet, which is connectedto a smaller section having a smaller sized inlet; c) means forsupporting an utensil; d) means for regulating heat radiation and heatconvection of flame; e) means for increasing heating efficiency of saidflame in cooking, and f) means for preventing undesirable heating of ahandler of said utensil.

Defined alternatively, the present invention is a removable flame heattransfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burner having improvedburner ports of openings for a gas stove that supports an utensil,comprising: a) a hollow shell being an ascending wall having a topopening with a larger sized top circumference and a bottom opening witha smaller sized circumference, a plurality of air passages of openingsbeing through said shell, wherein said air passages are more denselydistributed onto a lower part of said shell, as compared with said airpassages which are less densely distributed onto an upper part of saidshell; b) said hollow shell is positioned onto a cooktop of said gasstove to surround an upper section of said burner, wherein said improvedburner ports are positioned, each said improved burner port includes anexpanded larger section having a larger sized outlet connected to asmaller section having a smaller sized inlet; and c) said apparatusincorporated with said burner having said improved burner ports enablesto increase heating efficiency of flame in cooking, said hollow shellregulating transfer of flame heat radiation and convection.

Defined another alternatively, the present invention is a removableflame heat transfer regulating apparatus incorporated with a burnerhaving improved burner ports of openings for a gas stove, wherein eachsaid improved burner ports comprising an expanded larger section havinga larger sized outlet connected to a smaller section having a smallersized inlet.

Of course the present invention is not intended to be restricted to anyparticular form or arrangement, or any specific embodiment, or anyspecific use, disclosed herein, since the same may be modified invarious particulars or relations without departing from the spirit orscope of the claimed invention hereinabove shown and described of whichthe apparatus or method shown is intended only for illustration anddisclosure of an operative embodiment and not to show all of the variousforms or modifications in which this invention might be embodied oroperated.

1. A gas stove having a burner and a cooktop to heat a kitchen utensilhaving a bottom side, comprising: a. said burner having a top sectionwhich is positioned onto said cooktop; b. said top section includes aremovable round cap and an upward round hollow neck that is affixed ontosaid cooktop, wherein said cap is removably positioned downwardly tomate with said hollow neck, said cap including a transverse topconnected to a downward circular wall having an outer side, an innerside and a bottom ring to thereby form an inner recess of said cap, saidhollow neck being an upward circular wall to surround a central upwardopening wherein said upward circular wall having a top ring that matchessaid bottom ring of said cap; c. a plurality of identical downward slotsare circumferentially and radially spaced apart to cut a part of saiddownward circular wall including said bottom ring, each of said downwardslots being an expanding section having a larger opening positioned onsaid outer side of said downward circular wall, a smaller openingpositioned on said inner side of said downward circular wall, and abottom opening that cuts off said bottom ring of said cap; and d. saididentical downward slots turn to the respective identical burner portsof openings when said cap is mated with said hollow neck, wherein eachof said identical burner ports being an expanding opening having alarger outlet, a smaller inlet, and an ascending interior top surfacerelative to said top of said cap.
 2. The gas stove in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising: a circumferential sideward extrusion isaffixed to said outer side of said downward circular wall to align withsaid top of said cap, wherein said circumferential sideward extrusionhas a bottom ring that is aligned with said ascending interior topsurfaces of the respective identical burner ports.
 3. The gas stove inaccordance with claim 2, further comprising: a circular downward slot ispositioned at a joint where said circumferential sideward extrusion isaffixed to said downward circular wall of said cap.
 4. The gas stove inaccordance with claim 1, further comprising a diameter of 8 cm of acircle that is aligned with said outlets of the respective burner ports,wherein said diameter is correlated to a distance ranging from 2.5 cm to3 cm between said outlets and said bottom side of said kitchen utensilhaving a diametrical size ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.
 5. The gas stovein accordance with claim 1, further comprising: said each of saididentical burner ports being a smaller opening having a smaller inletconnected to a larger expanding opening having a larger outlet and anascending interior top surface relative to said top of said cap.
 6. Thegas stove in accordance with claim 6, further comprising: said each ofsaid identical burner ports is circumferentially and radically spacedapart to penetrate through said top of said cap.
 7. A gas stove having aburner and a cooktop to heat a kitchen utensil having a bottom side,comprising: a. said burner having a top section which is positioned ontosaid cooktop; and b. a plurality of identical burner ports of openingsare positioned onto said top section of said burner, wherein each ofsaid identical burner ports is an expanding opening including anascending interior top surface, a larger outlet and a smaller inlet. 8.The gas stove in accordance with claim 7, further comprising: a. saidtop section includes a removable round cap and an upward round hollowneck that is affixed onto said cooktop, wherein said cap is removablypositioned downwardly to mate with said hollow neck, said cap includinga transverse top connected to a downward circular wall having an outerside, an inner side and a bottom ring to thereby form an inner recess ofsaid cap, said hollow neck being an upward circular wall to surround acentral upward opening wherein said upward circular wall having a topring that matches said bottom ring of said cap; b. a plurality ofidentical downward slots are circumferentially and radially spaced apartto cut a part of said downward circular wall including said bottom ring,each of said downward slots being an expanding section having a largeropening positioned on said outer side of said downward circular wall, asmaller opening positioned on said inner side of said downward circularwall, and a bottom opening that cuts off said bottom ring of said cap;and c. said identical downward slots turn to the respective identicalburner ports of openings when said cap is mated with said hollow neck,wherein each of said identical burner ports being an expanding openinghaving a larger outlet, a smaller inlet, and an ascending interior topsurface relative to said top of said cap.
 9. The gas stove in accordancewith claim 8, further comprising: a circumferential sideward extrusionis affixed to said outer side of said downward circular wall to alignwith said top of said cap, wherein said circumferential sidewardextrusion has a bottom ring that is aligned with said ascending interiortop surfaces of the respective identical burner ports.
 10. The gas stovein accordance with claim 9, further comprising: a circular downward slotis positioned at a joint where said circumferential sideward extrusionis affixed to said downward circular wall of said cap.
 11. The gas stovein accordance with claim 7, further comprising a diameter of 8 cm of acircle that is aligned with said outlets of the respective burner ports,wherein said diameter is correlated to a distance ranging from 2.5 cm to3 cm between said outlets and said bottom side of said kitchen utensilhaving a diametrical size ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.
 12. The gas stovein accordance with claim 7, further comprising: said each of saididentical burner ports being a smaller opening having a smaller inletconnected to a larger expanding opening having a larger outlet and anascending interior top surface relative to said top of said cap.
 13. Thegas stove in accordance with claim 8, further comprising: said each ofsaid identical burner ports is circumferentially and radically spacedapart to penetrate through said top of said cap.
 14. A gas stove havinga burner and a cooktop to heat a kitchen utensil having a bottom side,comprising: a. said burner having a top section which is positioned ontosaid cooktop; and b. a plurality of identical burner ports of openingsare positioned onto said top section of said burner, wherein each ofsaid identical burner ports is a smaller opening having a smaller inletconnected to a larger expanding opening having a larger outlet and anascending interior top surface.
 15. The gas stove in accordance withclaim 7, further comprising: a. said top section includes a removableround cap and an upward round hollow neck that is affixed onto saidcooktop, wherein said cap is removably positioned downwardly to matewith said hollow neck, said cap including a transverse top connected toa downward circular wall having an outer side, an inner side and abottom ring to thereby form an inner recess of said cap, said hollowneck being an upward circular wall to surround a central upward openingwherein said upward circular wall having a top ring that matches saidbottom ring of said cap; b. a plurality of identical downward slots arecircumferentially and radially spaced apart to cut a part of saiddownward circular wall including said bottom ring, each of saididentical downward slots being a smaller section connected to a largerexpanding section having an ascending interior top surface and a largeropening positioned on said outer side of said downward circular wall,said smaller section having a smaller opening positioned on said innerside of said downward circular wall; and c. said identical downwardslots turn to the respective identical burner ports of openings whensaid cap is mated with said hollow neck, wherein each of said identicalburner ports being a smaller opening having a smaller inlet connected toa larger expanding opening having a larger outlet and an ascendinginterior top surface relative to said top of said cap.
 16. The gas stovein accordance with claim 15, further comprising: a circumferentialsideward extrusion is affixed to said outer side of said downwardcircular wall to align with said top of said cap, wherein saidcircumferential sideward extrusion has a bottom ring that is alignedwith said ascending interior top surfaces of the respective identicalburner ports.
 17. The gas stove in accordance with claim 16, furthercomprising: a circular downward slot is positioned at a joint where saidcircumferential sideward extrusion is affixed to said downward circularwall of said cap.
 18. The gas stove in accordance with claim 15, furthercomprising: said each of said identical burner ports iscircumferentially and radically spaced apart to penetrate through saidtop of said cap.
 19. The gas stove in accordance with claim 14, furthercomprising a diameter of 8 cm of a circle that is aligned with saidoutlets of the respective burner ports, wherein said diameter iscorrelated to a distance ranging from 2.5 cm to 3 cm between saidoutlets and said bottom side of said kitchen utensil having adiametrical size ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm.